Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over
by TheGirlWithFarTooManyIdeas
Summary: Emily Potter sacrificed her life to try and destroy Voldemort that fateful night in the graveyard. But instead of death, a mysterious figure transports her and two friends into the wild world of Remnent. Free of manipulations and prophecy, Emily channels her 'saving people thing' into a career that brings her into the struggle against Cinder Fall and attempts to drag her 'home'
1. Chapter 1

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Wanda: (chuckles and then shrugs) Have you ever had an idea, then gotten another idea, and had one of those ideas completely cannibalize each other? Well, that just happened to me - I originally intended to write this separately from Seal of Salem, and then I realized they were sharing way to many plot points so it would just make more sense for me to condense them into a single story. (sorry about that) Anyway, here goes! I hope you guys like it.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor RWBY.**_

 **Prologue:**

The girl tied to the tombstone was only half listening to the mad ramblings of Voldemort, aka Tom Riddle, aka the murderer of her parents and god alone knew how many other people. Her eyes were flickering between him, the corpse of the Hogwarts Champion, and the traitor Peter Pettigrew. Blood was seeping down her arm from the knife cut the man had given her, causing a constant throbbing pain on top of everything else. She had gone deep inside herself, not just from shock and fear, but resignation.

Contrary to what some might believe, Emily Lily Potter was not a pampered princess, nor was she a fool. Spending eleven years living in a boot cupboard tended to shatter your illusions about the world. Also contrary to what most people believed, her life hadn't gotten any better when she entered the wizard's world.

The girl-who-lived-to-be-frustrated-by-society wondered if she was a bringer of death. In her first year in this world, her friend Hermione Granger was killed by a troll brought into the building as a distraction by one of Voldemort's followers. In her second year, Ginny Weasley died in the chamber, a sacrifice to give Tom Riddle a second life, something Emily had just barely managed to prevent. All she really had was her godfather, and he was on the run, unable to protect her in one of her most dire hours.

And now, Cedric, a nice guy who had looked out for her while she was stuck in this nightmare of a tournament (that she had been entered into illegally, but that kind of went without saying at this point), was dead as well.

Emily's lip twisted into a bitter smile. Part of her wondered if it would surprise many people if she, after all that, knelt in front of Voldemort and asked to join him, if only to prevent all the terrible things that keep happening to her. The Prophet certainly didn't have a high opinion of her thanks to the Skeeter cow; she wouldn't put it past them at this rate.

She would never join him or bow to him. That fact was embedded so deeply in her character that it didn't even require thinking. She would never be like him. She would die first.

Emily examined the circle of Death Eaters she was surrounded by. Most of them were pretty far away, after all 'only Voldemort could defeat her', but some were close enough that a small explosion could at least do them some pretty severe harm.

She closed her eyes and reached inside herself.

Accidental magic could still occur even after a person started formal education, since it was heavily connected to the wielder's emotions.

Emily imagined a solar flare, an explosion. She imagined fire bursting out of her and consuming everything around her. Then she closed her eyes, muttered, "I'm sorry, Sirius, Remus," and let out a feral scream.

She exploded like a small air to surface missile. Voldemort was caught in the blast and destroyed down to his bones. The two Carrow parents, who had been eagerly hovering nearby, were also obliterated. Lucius Malfoy, also closer to his master, survived, but sustained severe burns all over his face and arms.

Peter Pettigrew was far enough back that he only received minor injuries. But he also saw something very strange.

A flash of white light, independent of Potter's magic, surrounded her in the split seconds before the explosion went off. And when it faded, those there were scorch marks and bloodstains on the tombstone she had been chained to, even the Unspeakables could find no trace of her body.

 _ ****~Line Break~****_

" _Are you sure this is wise?"_

" _My counterpart likes to weigh the dice before the game starts. This will help balance the decks."_

" _But she's a child...all of them are."_

" _And children are the future. I have hardly seen such a pure, honest soul in all my years of existence. Have a little faith, my herald. This will begin to make things right."_

" _She won't have a family. We aren't able to bring them all together now without disturbing the balance. She'll have to survive alone."_

" _Alone? I don't think so. Individuals like her have a way of drawing others to them. ...And you'll be in the shadows every now and then. Insurance."_

" _...I can protect every child but my own, then..."_

" _Do not fret, my herald. That will not be forever."_

 _ ****~Line Break~****_

 _ **Gold Trailer**_

Adam Taurus wasn't having a good day; ever since the morning he'd been dogged by press gangs for a mining corporation that used faunus labour. While the twelve year old believed he could take those freaks on any day, he had little four year old Blake to worry about, and he couldn't fight and protect her at the same time.

His old man had died a year ago in a Schnee dust mine, though that at least was an actual accident instead of being the result of malicious lack of safety protocol. His dad's best friend, Anne Belladonna, a well known faunus activist, had 'gone missing' a few days afterwards, leaving him in charge of protecting her daughter Blake.

(Adam was pretty sure Anne had been killed. Faunus like her didn't 'go missing', and Anne was pissing off some rather powerful people.)

It was approaching the end of the day, and Blake was crying because she was hungry. Unfortunately, the shopkeeper was refusing to sell anything to them.

"You probably can't read," The man sneered, "But there's a sign on the door. We reserve the right to refuse service. Now beat it!"

"You know that's illegal, right?"

Adam started and turned around at the small, defiant voice. In fact, everyone in line turned to see it.

It was a human girl – of all the oddities. She was a bit shorter than Adam, wearing a yellow and white sundress and sunglasses two sizes too big for her. She had messy, fire red hair and scarred hands; she was another street kid like them. There was an odd scar on her forehead, shaped like a lightning bolt. She dramatically pulled off her glasses and gave the receptionist a questioning look. She had the greenest eyes Adam had ever seen, and there was a sharpness to them that killed any laughter her cute appearance might have brought up.

The man did a double take. "What are you-?"

"Refusing service on the basis of species is an infraction of the Atlas Treaty," The girl said as if it was perfectly obvious, walking up to the counter. "I think the fine was five thousand dollars? Or was it six?" She giggled, "I suppose I wouldn't _really_ know, I'm just a _silly little girl_ after all."

Several people in life shuffled uncomfortably; one guy's mouth was hanging open. He'd probably been winding up to call her just that only for her to pull the rug out from under him.

"W-What's it matter to you?" The receptionist looked extremely wrong footed; Adam would have snickered if he wasn't taken aback himself. "You're a human kid! These animals-"

"Have thoughts, feelings, aspirations, and the ability to empathize with people." The girl interrupted, causing the man to gape outright at her. "I'm pretty sure that checks in all the 'sapience' boxes. The nice man at the end of the street who works for the General told me about that." She smirked. "Of course, I could go get him and ask him if I'm wrong. I'll be right back!"

"H-Hey! Wait!" The receptionist sputtered as the redhead began skipping towards the door. Blake was watching her with awe in her eyes. "Y-You don't need to get anyone. I understand."

The girl paused at the door, before turning on one heel and staring at him. "You do?" She asked challengingly. "That surprises me. I figured people who thought they had the right to take the freedom and happiness away from other people were incapable of comprehending things like that."

Her piece said, the girl then turned and left through the door. The chime rang loudly in the ensuing silence.

Adam wrestled with his desire to laugh in the man's face; the humiliation of being told off by a kid was going to be sticking around for a while. "Can we have those bread loafs now?" He asked, grinning mockingly at the man.

Red faced, the man shoved the basket across the table. Adam payed up, took Blake by the hand, and headed outside, determined to catch up to that redhead.

The girl hadn't gone too far. Adam sat her at the end of the street, conversing with an Atlas soldier. She gestured wildly with her hands before pointing down the street towards them. The guy nodded, gave her a lolipop and started heading their way.

Adam's disbelief spiked, and he walked up to the girl, frowning. She gave no indication she'd noticed them until he and Blake were standing right next to her.

"Why'd you do that?" Adam wanted to know.

The girl pulled the lolipop out of her mouth and eyed him with some confusion. "...Do I need a reason to help people?" She asked, tilting her head to the right.

"But you're a human." Blake whispered. "Why help faunus like us?"

"Why not?" The girl seemed genuinely puzzled by the question. "I like to do good. And I know a little bit of what it's like; being treated horribly for something you can't help." She gestured vaguely to herself. "I've always been a bit of an outsider myself."

"...I've never met a human who's offered to help us for nothing in return." Adam said gruffly, his eyes narrowing with memory.

Schnee had offered his old man a better living...in exchange for ratting out the White Fang's planned demonstrations and high profile members. He'd refused, and Schnee angrily informed him that untrustworthy faunus would never be given work by his organization.

The girl licked her treat and smiled sunnily at him. "Well, now you have."

She said this in a very matter-of-fact way, as if this didn't completely uproot everything Adam believed about the world. The redhead then looked around before adding, "Do you wanna eat here? I don't get chased off too often, and the tables are somewhat clean."

Now Blake was looking at the redhead with awe and admiration, so Adam felt like that decision was already made. "Alright." He said gruffly. The girl beamed.

They divided up a few of the rolls and ate in mostly companionable silence. "What's your name?" Blake asked. "I'm Blake. This is Adam."

The redhead seemed to ponder the question for a moment before saying, "I'm Emily. Nice to meet you."

"Do you have a home?"

"Nope." Emily said with a shrug. "That's okay, though. I get by."

Adam stared down at his plate, trying to place the fact that he was feeling _sympathy_ for a human _._ Sure, she was a very...unorthodox one, but still human, and his experiences had taught him that humans weren't trustworthy.

After they finished eating and left, Adam had a sneaking suspicion Emily was following them. Sure enough, Blake let out a small squeal of joy when her new friend appeared from behind the tree near the shack they called a home, looking hopefully at him.

"You two have a roof over your heads? I'm so jealous. Is there room for one more, maybe?"

Blake looked pleadingly up at Adam, who threw his arms in the air in surrender and said, "Sure. Why not?"

 _ ****~A few days later~****_

Emily continued to pop up in their lives after that. Adam found he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would; they weren't stopped or refused service as much with her around. Plus her friendliness and cheerful disposition was kind of charming, though he'd never admit it out loud.

One night during a storm, Blake had a nightmare about her mother. Adam shook her awake, looking at her tear stained face with uncertainty. He had never been good at dealing with other people's emotions.

Emily walked over to Blake and sat down next to her. "What were you dreaming about, Blake?"

"My parents." Blake whispered.

Emily paused, her green eyes growing distant at that. "I understand." She sat down next to the smaller girl and gave her a hug. Blake nuzzled her head into the other girl's shoulders, shivering.

"...You do?"

"Do you want to hear a bedtime story?" Emily asked. Blake nodded a little. "Okay. Once upon a time, there was a prince and a commoner who went to the same school. After spending a few years together, the prince fell in love with the common girl, even though everyone said it wasn't 'proper' for someone of his statue. They were very happy together, and eventually they had a daughter together."

"Now, there was a rival tyrant who wished to take control of the world. He believed that royalty were never to mix with the 'lesser' kinds. The Prince and his wife were two among many who stood against him, and they were strong enough to drive him away three times."

"One night in the middle of this war, a spy in the ranks lead the tyrant to the family's home. Ambushed, the prince was killed while his wife ran to protect her baby. After a battle, the tyrant offered to spare the commoner's life if she handed over her child. The woman loved her daughter too much, and refused, and she was slain too."

Blake whimpered. "I don't like this story..."

Emily gently stroked her hair and murmured, "It's not quite done yet."

"This was the tyrant's final mistake. The mother's love was so powerful, that in her death it became an incredible force of magic. When the tyrant attempted to finish what he had started, this great force protected the child and threw his attack back in his face, destroying him completely. So no matter where she was, or what happened, that girl was always protected by by her mother's love and sacrifice. It would follow her where ever she went. Always."

Blake smiled a bit, before drifting off into sleep. Emily gently set her down on the mattress bed and pulled the blanket over her, before raising one hand to the lightning bolt scar on her forehead.

"Where did you hear that story?" Adam asked.

"...It's my story." Emily responded, her eyes growing distant again.

"...Yours?" Adam echoed, regarding her with confusion and shock.

Emily nodded. "My mother and father were killed when I was little. I know the story through my nightmares." She gently tapped the scar again. "This is my memento from that night."

"Why would anyone want to kill a small child?" Adam asked, sincerely revolted by the thought.

Emily snorted, shaking her head. "How would I know? Maybe he hated anyone less powerful than him. Maybe he was just insane. I never thought to ask. Those kinds of people are usually the same in the end."

"Is that why you helped us before?" Adam wondered.

"It was part of it," Emily admitted. "But it's true that I did it because I wanted to. I want to be there to help other people. When the water is rushing up, I'll be there to pull people out. That's who I am." She smiled at him. "What about you, Adam?"

Adam looked away. "I'm not much of a bleeding heart."

"There's a lot of anger there, huh?" The redhead asked softly. Adam's head snapped up towards her, to see that there was no judgment in her voice. "That's okay."

"Really?"

"I think I'd be afraid of you if there wasn't any." Emily said.

"You're not afraid of me?"

"No." Emily met his gaze softly. "I'm not afraid of you."

Adam stared at her for a moment longer only to find himself chuckling, shaking his head with disbelief and a shred of fondness. "You're either a saint, or a maniac."

"I like to think maniac." Emily remarked with a straight face.

Adam snorted in amusement. "Get some sleep, Emily."

Emily blinked once, twice, and then smiled brightly. She recognized the offer to stay and be part of a makeshift family with the two faunus. "...Thank you, Adam."

 **End of Gold Trailer**

 _ ****~Line Break~****_

 **Silver Trailer**

Gratcia Nightshade stumbled across the rough ground, nearly treading on her tail causing her to hiss in anger and frustrating. There were three other faunus with her – an antelope girl, a cat boy and a lion girl - all her age, all of whom were equally sleep deprived, anxious and glancing over their shoulder as they made their way across the dim streets of the small town.

Gratcia's fox ears twitched, and she growled inaudibly and turned to her companions. Her long, reddish brown hair fell in tangles around her sweat stained face; she irritably swatted it away as she tried to catch her breath. She was wearing the tattered remains of grey work clothes and leather boots. Her fierce brown eyes narrowed into slits at the familiar, hateful sounds in the distance. "They're getting closer. We need to get you guys into town."

"I don't think I can walk much further," The lion girl gasped, the broken chains of the shackles still strapped on her wrists. "I'm getting dizzy."

Gratcia obligingly turned on her heel, hurried to the lion girl Lenore's side and let her lean on her shoulder. They had been fleeing for nearly two straight days, and the only reason she was doing better then her other companions was because of magic.

"Are you sure you know where we are, Ginny?" The antelope wheezed, using her friend's preferred nickname out of habit.

"Yeah. I remember this place from the map, Diadem." Gratcia responded. "The Station is within running distance. If we get there, we'll be safe. Darrel, is your leg acting up?"

Darrel set his face. "I can make it a few more yards, Nightshade, if it means I never have to go back to that mine."

The four children had escaped from an illegal Dust mine that employed desperate faunus. Safety precautions were borderline nonexistent, and cave ins were common occurrences. Younger faunus were forced to squeeze into small tunnels with nothing but a rope to help them get back out. Gratcia had been kidnapped as a young child, and had spent the upshot of a year trapped in the darkness of the mines, with terrible food and constant heavy workload.

Finally she found a way to get herself and three of her fellow mine workers out of the mine. They had spent the last two days running almost nonstop from the armed guards pursuing them in order to drag them back and prevent news of the mine from getting out.

Gratcia, the girl once known as Ginny Weasley, didn't have an extremely high opinion of her new life so far – but then again, she hadn't seen very much of the world outside a broken down town and the mine. And anything had to beat being a broken ghost trapped in the Chamber of Secrets where she had died the first time.

The last thing she remembered before waking up with fox ears and a tail was a bright white light and two people distantly talking. She couldn't make out their words and the memory faded as she integrated more into the world of Remnant.

"I see them!" A distant voice called. Gratcia spat out a curse and skidded to a stop, handing Lenore off to Diadem.

"You guys run ahead. Get some help." She instructed.

"But what about you-?"

"I'll live. Just go!" Gratcia insisted.

The three others exchanged a quick look before rushing down the path. Gratcia turned her attention to the pathway, catching her breath, before running off down a different street once the men had her in their sights. Sure enough, they followed her, allowing the rest of the faunus to reach safety.

And while she didn't know it at the time, three aspiring Hunters had been training in the open space of the ghost town where she was recaptured. And when the men knocked her unconscious with batons, they followed her all the way back to the mine.

 _ ****~Line Break~****_

"...Hey. Hey, wake up!"

Gratcia shifted and groaned, the hard gravel digging into her shoulders. Someone was shaking her, voice heavy with concern...couldn't be one of the overseers, then. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up.

A young cat faunus was leaning over her, eyes full of worry. She put a finger to her lips when Gratcia opened her mouth to ask her what was going on, pointing off to the side. Dazed, Gratcia sat up to see her troop's overseers all unconscious, bloodied and dumped in an unceremonious heap in a corner. An older boy and girl were standing in front of them, the girl dusting her hands off and saying, "good riddance."

"Can you get up?" The cat asked. Gratcia blinked heavily and nodded. "Do you think you can walk?" Another nod. "We're gonna get you out of here."

"How?" Gratcia rasped.

The cat girl smiled. "By busting out. How else?"

"You're corrupting Blake, Emily. She's starting to sound like you." The boy told his female counterpart accusingly.

"That's a bad thing, Adam?" The girl, Emily, said with a giggle. Gratcia gaped at her for a moment. This girl looked eerily familiar...like another Emily she had known in another time.

Was it possible?

"For the sake of my sanity? Yes. That's a bad thing." Adam said hotly.

Blake offered Gratcia a helping hand up. "We saw you mislead those guards so your friends could escape. That's really brave. What's your name?"

"Gratcia Nightshade." The darker redhead said with a small smile. "Thank you."

 ****~Line Break~****

They ended up blowing the entrance of the mine to kingdom come. It was Adam's idea – leaving a message behind. Emily agreed wholeheartedly.

Lenore, Darrel and Diadem had relayed their story to the Atlas military, who arrested every perpetrator at the sight. Even with Adam's grumpy observation that some of them were going to get lesser sentences compared to what they deserved, the success put everyone in a good mood.

Gratcia took this moment to walk over to Emily. "This might sound weird, but...have we met before?"

Emily blinked and looked intently at the other girl. A flash of recognition went through her eyes and she asked, "That depends. Who do you think I am?"

"...Emily Potter." Gratcia responded. "...There was once a time I was called Ginny Weasley."

Emily gasped and gave Gratcia a crushing hug. The fox girl squeaked, her recently healed ribs twinging a bit at the pressure, before leaning against Emily's shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't manage to save you in time," The older girl whispered.

"No, it's okay. I'm glad you payed that bastard back for me," Gratcia responded. "It's so good to see a friendly face after all this..."

Emily nodded and smiled. "Come with us. Me, Adam and Blake live and train together, we're like a family. We're going to see if we can enter the White Fang soon. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having another person around!"

Well, Adam might mind, but Emily had learned that if she followed him around with 'sad baby kitten eyes' for long enough, he'd cave in. No matter how much Adam tried to play the 'aloof, cool older brother' card, in the end he was never able to refuse his girls anything.

"I'd love to," Gratcia said with a small smile of her own.

 **End Silver Trailer**

 _ ****~Line Break~****_

 **Obsidian Trailer**

Selene Lumen fiddled with her practice weapon, alternating between examining the various books on the table, and waiting for Professor Korban to arrive. Her curly brown hair was carefully packed into a practical bun to keep it out of her hazel eyes while training; she wore a dark sleeveless shirt and leather pants. A couple other kids walked by her room, and the eldest grimaced before pushing his gang forward without bothering her.

There was a reason for that - or reasons, with an s. Selene was a very dedicated student of both history and violence, being both poised and dignified as well as viciously precise and brutal towards her opponents. She had put three bullies in the hospital before the caretakers running her orphanage threw their arms in the air and asked a nearby Hunter to train her, if only to give another outlet for her 'obvious anger management issues'.

Selene didn't think she had 'anger management issues'. She preferred the term 'cautious, perhaps _slightly_ short of being paranoid'. Being clubbed to death by a thrice damned troll when you turned eleven can do that to a person.

Yes, Selene Lumen was once Hermione Granger. The same mysterious light had rescued her alongside Emily and Gratcia/Ginny following her would be death, and now she lived in Remnant. Her second set of parents had died during a Grimm attack on the city, and she was bent and determined to become one of the greatest Huntresses this world had ever seen.

"Ah! There you are, Selene."

Selene closed the book on Dust she had been reading and looked up to see Korban Fischer. "Professor Korban! You're late!" That was rather unlike him; he maintained a very neat schedual at all other times.

The man in question was a somewhat world-weary veteran of the Faunus War and many, many Grimm attacks, and had a reputation for being a fairy talented battler. He used a shotgun mace as his primary weapon, though so far he had only taught Selene using wooden training sticks.

Korban might have retired, but he took a liking to Selene's determination to learn and improve herself, so he volunteered to both train her and deal with her 'people problems'.

"Sorry about that. The traffic downtown was unbelievable." Korban said, running one hand through his greying brown hair. "Now, shall we go?"

"Of course!" Selene set her book aside and jumped to her feet, picking up her practice weapon as she went. The two were making their way downstairs when the newsfeed caught their attention.

" _...just the latest in a string of robberies and arson committed against companies with unethical practices regarding both humans and faunus, with the four perpetrators vanishing into the night once again. As you can see in this citizen filmed footage, it seems the four evacuated the building with a false fire alarm, before setting a real one, revealing a criminal coverup based in the offices."_

Blurry footage of four figures – three girls and a boy – showed on screen, leaving the smoking Schnee company building behind just as flames burst out of the doors and windows.

"Heard of them?" Korban asked his student, noticing her distracted look.

"Yes...well, sort of. I've heard some rumours about their methods." Selene gave the computer a look of contemplation. "Someone asked me if I thought one of them had a Semblance related to invisibility or intangibility, since they've managed to escape the scene of their crimes each time."

"It's entirely possible." Korban agreed. "Now, do you want to get to today's lesson or not?"

"Haha! Sorry, Professor."

 ****~Line Break~****

"Have you thought of applying to Beacon Academy when you get older, Selene?" Korban asked her at the end of the day.

"Of course I have." Selene said, puffing out her chest a bit. "It's the best Hunter's school in all of Vale. And I want to experience the best."

Korban chuckled and lightly messed with her curly brown hair. "Well then, if you make it that far I'll put in a good word for you. Huntress." He then left, leaving Selene giddy and rocking on her feet, making plans to ensure her eventual application went through no matter what.

"Hey, you're pretty good!"

Selene turned in surprise. Her lessons had gained an audience without her noticing; three girls and one boy roughly around her age. Three faunus and one human, who picked up a stick and asked, "Do you mind if we ask for a spar?"

She had familiar emerald green eyes. Selene looked at her, first with shock, then with pleasure at seeing her first real friend alive and well in this strange new world.

"That would be nice, thanks."

 _ ****~Line Break~****_

"Okay, fine. You're pretty good...for a human."

Selene covered her snickers with a cough and curtsied. "I'll take that as a compliment...Adam, right?"

"Yeah," Adam said, waving off Blake's offered hand as he got back to his feet. Gratcia and Emily didn't bother to hide their laughs, causing him to scowl at them. "Sure, laugh it up. I can still beat you both, need I remind you."

"Just barely! And we're getting better every day!" Gratcia protested.

"Yeah, so am I." Adam retorted. Blake just rolled her eyes affectionately at the scene. Selene found herself agreeing; these four were more like a group of mildly dysfunctional siblings than a gang of street miscreants.

"Oh, stop squabbling kids, you're _all_ talented." Selene said teasingly, surprising herself. She hadn't felt comfortable enough to tease anyone not named Emily Potter before.

"Kids!" Adam grumbled. "I'm the eldest, and I still get no respect."

"But how do you gain something you already have?" Gratcia asked warmly. Adam gave her a sideways look and laughed, Selene catching the smile in his eyes.

"Well if you _want_ , I intend to be a great Huntress myself. We can all train together." Selene offered. "It's not like there's much else to do...in an orphanage."

Blake looked sympathetically at her. "We understand. We're all orphans here."

"People like us should stick together." Emily added. "I think that's a great idea. Adam?"

The boy started a bit, surprised at being offered veto power. After a minute of deliberation, he nodded in assent. "Sure. Why not?"

And that's how the the group that would become team SAGE met each other. And the world – Remnant and Earth alike – would never be the same.

 **End Obsidian Trailer**

 **End Chapter**

 _ **How's that for an opening? Emily, Ginny/Gratcia and Selene/Hermione's benefactor is not just random chance or the veil being a plot device (which I admit to having used before) but is part of the mystery in this plot, including the person they're conversing with. I very much hope I'll be blowing your mind with the identity of the herald in the future.**_

 **Read and Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY.**_

 **Chapter 2: From Dark to Light**

 ****~ _Twelve Years Later~**_**

It was just after twilight, and traffic on the roads was slowing down. Along these quiet roads were five young adults, fresh out of the Regional Tournaments and bickering over how they were going to get dinner.

The group consisted of three faunus and two humans, four girls and one boy. The boy was a tall, mysterious, and imposing bull faunus, dressed in black and red, one hand resting on the weapon at his hip. On his left was a girl with fire red hair, green rimmed sunglasses, a yellow sundress and combat boots, a huge sword leaning against her shoulder. Behind her was another girl with darker red hair, about an inch shorter than her, dressed in grey, her fox tail swishing whenever she made a point. Next to her was a girl with curly bronze hair tied back in a single ponytail, dressed in white and balancing a massive bag on her shoulder. On the leader's right was a young black haired cat faunus fiddling with her weapon, embarrassed by the praise her companions were giving her for her performance.

"I didn't make it past the semi finals," She protested when the taller girl with a bag full of books slung over one shoulder praised her once again for making her mark.

"Blake, you were facing _Phyrra Nikos_." Selene Lumen emphasized with an encouraging smile. "That's just bad luck. Besides, just _making_ it to the semi finals was good work in and of itself."

"She was pretty tough." Gratcia Nightshade agreed, tossing her dark red hair over her shoulder with one hand while twirling her butterfly knife with the other. "She almost got me, too – that was _barely_ a draw. If it wasn't for Widow's Bite, I would have been toast." She shrugged her shoulders, slightly shifting the twin kusarigama strapped to her back.

"I swear she was almost happy about it," Blake said, half to herself. "She could barely get into the arena in the first place thanks to all those reporters following her around."

"That poor girl," Emily agreed, scowling at the memory. "What a pack of vultures."

"I'm surprised they haven't been stalking us," Selene remarked, casting an uncertain look over her shoulder as if expecting to be ambushed as soon as they turned the corner.

"Hah! They knew if they stuck around, Adam would glare at them more." Emily chuckled. The bull faunus scowled at her. "What? You're the one who would only say 'no comment' after winning the tournament. The crowd parted in front of you for a reason, you know!"

"Aw, Adam's just camera shy, Emily. You know that!" Selene said teasingly.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Are you going to help me find a place to get dinner, or not?"

"I can always cook something for us." Gratcia suggested.

Blake winced slightly. "Uh...I'd rather go out tonight, Ginny. No offence. I mean, we have the money for it, so why not?"

"Are you implying you don't like my cooking?" Gratcia asked the cat faunus with a raised eyebrow.

"I hear there's a good restaurant somewhere in this district." Selene interrupted quickly, causing Blake to twitch slightly in relief. Gratcia was a talented fighter, but her cooking skills often left something to be desired.

(half the time, she burned it. Even cereal. Gratcia herself wasn't exactly sure how that happened.)

"That's what we're doing," Adam said decisively, causing Gratcia to pout slightly. Emily gave her a sympathetic hand squeeze, never loosing her playful smile.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go a bit further out? You know, just in case? I think Schnee might have an office in this area, and the old man doesn't care much for us." The girl who lived again (she hadn't been called that in years. It was so invigorating.) asked.

Adam gave her a look of slight surprise, mostly hidden behind his mask. "There's no way that old bastard has anything on us. Why are you worried?"

"I don't know...it might be irrational, but I feel like somebody _did_ see us when we were making out way out," Emily admitted.

"Wouldn't they have called us out already if that was the case?" Selene pointed out.

Gratcia snorted. "They're welcome to try."

Emily shrugged. "You're right. I just... I don't know, I like to trust my gut. It's often right."

Adam glanced over his shoulder. "I think we're in the clear, Emily, but if you _are_ worried, we'll double back on a different road after dinner."

"Thanks Adam." Emily said with a smile. She loved how her adoptive brother always took her seriously, no matter what the circumstances were. Even though he was senor of the group and had been living alone the longest, he never treated her like a stupid kid who had to be lead around by the hand, which she had been so used to before. They were all equals here, even Blake, who was the youngest and most impressionable.

The restaurant came into view within a few minutes. Blake's stomach growled loudly at the smell of fish from inside, causing her to give Adam a pleading look.

"Alright. I'll get your usual. You've earned it, partner." Adam said. Blake wasn't the type to squeal – she had a fairly reserved personality – but the gleam in her eyes made her appreciation clear.

They entered the diner and took a table at the far end, near the door – they all valued their privacy, and Selene hated the noise buildup that these sorts of buildings always had. About halfway through the meal, they were interrupted.

"Adam Taurus?"

Emily looked up from her meal and jolted slightly in her seat. An older man with grey hair, glasses and a cane was standing by their table. They hadn't met him before, but they all recognized him. Adam eyed the man warily and said, "Yes?"

"I was hoping I might catch you." The man said. "I'm Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy. Might I have a moment of your time?"

Adam frowned and glanced over at Emily. The redhead examined Ozpin for a moment; she couldn't sense any malice from this man, and a look over at her friends made it clear they shared her conclusion. She nodded slightly, and Adam grunted, "Sure."

Ozpin smiled and pulled up a chair. "I saw your work in the Regional Tournament. You're quite the talented group."

"Thank you, sir." Selene replied. "It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears."

"I imagine." Ozpin responded. "It would take much dedication for a group of struggling orphans to become the fighters you are now."

"How do you know about that?" Gratcia asked, surprised.

"I've been watching for you since you entered Vale. The council I sit on has been complaining about a long string of burglaries and arsons committed against varying corporations. What I couldn't help but notice was that no one was harmed during these acts...and more over, that all the victims were corrupt or abusive towards their workers."

The team stiffened in alarm. "I happened to be nearby when you robbed Sigmund Schnee for the fifth time this year." Ozpin said. "I didn't report you, because I was hoping to speak with you first."

Adam frowned. "What do you want?"

"Did you think we were working with the White Fang?" Gratcia blurted out, ears twitching. She winced a bit when both Blake and Adam glared at her. They didn't like talking about the year they spent in that extremist group. "That was a long time ago."

"No, though the thought did occur to me." Ozpin folded his hands on the table and studied them. Emily felt oddly at peace in this man's presence – as if he was a fully realized Albus Dumbledore. A figure of authority and trust. "You all have the potential to be great Hunters and Huntresses. Why live on the fringe of society, fleeing from the law?"

Adam snorted harshly. "Because unlike you, Professor, we never had the luxury of trust. People look at us and see dangerous animals. ...So that's what we are."

"It doesn't have to be like that." Ozpin said simply.

"What are you asking us?" Blake questioned uncertainly, hearing the implications in that sentence.

Ozpin seemed to smile a bit at this. "How old are you?"

"...24." Adam. "19." Emily and Selene. "18." Gratcia. "16." Blake.

"Hm. A little old for first year students...but nothing that can't be adjusted." Ozpin clasped his hands together and rested them on the table. "I would like the five of you to attend my school. Beacon Academy. Then perhaps you can seek justice in the light instead of the darkness."

Gratcia coughed on her drink and looked at him in surprise. "Wait! You're – you're gonna let us in? Just like that? Can you do that?!"

Ozpin chuckled. "I would hope so. I do _own_ the school, after all."

"...Sounds kind of fun." Emily said. "That's where some of the most famous Hunter groups in history have graduated, right Selene?"

"Brilliant." Adam grumbled.

"Oh, what's that for?" Emily asked, exasperated.

"I'm afraid of encouraging you." Adam responded with thinly veiled annoyance. "It's difficult keeping you in line when you're running off to get cats out of trees _half_ the time. Make it a job and I'm _certain_ I'll have ripped all my hair out by the end of the year."

"Adaaaam! When have I _ever-?_ "

"You ran into a collapsing building to rescue the workers and were nearly crushed to death," Adam interrupted, raising one hand to quiet her. "You jumped out of a tenth story window with a hostage you had rescued, breaking three ribs when you hit the tree you were aiming for. You _and_ Gratcia stood in the middle of a burning tunnel to hold an overpass together until the street was cleared off, ignoring the smoke inhalation until you passed out. Do I need to go on?"

"Oi! _You_ were helping us all those times!" Gratcia protested. "Since when did that bother you?"

"Since you started running into _everything_ without thinking!" Adam exploded, before starting to rant; "The moment something goes wrong, I turn my back for _one_ second and Emily runs off. Blake goes after her, Gratcia manages to make _something_ explode or catch fire, Selene complains about not having a plan and goes off to get _god knows what_ while I try to keep everyone in contact. _Then_ Emily takes a gunshot I could have walked off on my own and nearly gives me a goddamn heart attack, and Selene comes back with a _miniature air to surface missile,_ nearly blows us all to kingdom come, and _I_ loose five more years off my life!"

"Adam, that was that _one time_! Will you ever let me live that down?" Selene demanded indigently, only to falter when Adam raised up three fingers. "What do you mean, three times? The thing with the boiler doesn't count!"

Blake flushed bright red at her family's antics and pressed one hand against her forehead. She gave Ozpin a despairing look. "My mature role models," She said with an innocent sigh.

Ozpin looked like he was trying to hide his amusement at the scene unfolding in front of him, only succeeding out of long practice. "Those are some very colourful incidents."

The four finally remembered he was still at their table, breaking off the rant to look awkwardly at each other. Adam in particular looked like he wanted to deny having said anything at all since dinner started. "We lead colourful lives." Gratcia offered, smiling nervously.

"We'll go." Emily said, glancing around the table. Adam sighed slightly but nodded in consent. Selene and Gratcia both looked excited, while Blake was both excited and nervous.

"Wonderful." Ozpin said with a smile. "I'll see you in a few weeks, then."

 _ ****~Time Skip~****_

"Last chance to back out, Adam."

The bull faunus snorted and gave Selene a look. "Very funny, Lumen. The four of you aren't going anywhere without me. ...And to be honest, the idea has grown on me."

"Sheesh. I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable." Selene protested before muttering, "Men," under her breath.

"Did...Did Adam just change his mind about something? Wow. The world really is coming to an end," Gratcia joked.

Adam glared at her before rolling his eyes and finishing the transaction for the flight. He'd gotten used to Gratcia's sense of humour a while ago, and learned the best way to deal with it was not to react whenever he got annoyed. It just encouraged her.

Emily hung back next to Blake, who was shifting from foot to foot and biting her lip. "What's bothering you, Blake? Nervous?"

"I..I guess so," Blake admitted, her ears twitching. She had wanted to hide them with a bow, though in the end Gratcia talked her out of it. (there's nothing wrong with being proud of who you are! Anyone who has a problem with that can eat sh- (Ginny!)) "What if no one wants to be on a team with me?"

"Sure they will!" Emily exclaimed. "If they don't instantly find you adorable, there's bound to be another bookworm in your year. Don't give up hope until we've spent at least a couple of days there."

"...Thanks." Blake said, smiling for a second. Emily affectionately ruffled her hair before the five of them stepped onto the plane that would deliver them to Beacon.

Once the ship was in the air, a hologram came to life in the middle of the ship. The image was an older woman with blonde hair and stern green eyes; Emily and Gractia both thought of Minerva McGonagall when they saw her. She was dressed in white and black and spoke with a clear, authoritative voice.

" _ **Hello, students. My name is Glynda Goodwitch."**_

A bubble of laughter escaped Emily; she couldn't help it. Selene elbowed her friend lightly, though her lips twitched upwards as well.

" _ **I congratulate all of you for being accepted into this prestigious academy. You all worked hard to get where you are now, so don't squander it. Good luck, and welcome to Beacon!"**_

"Wow. Short, blunt and to the point." Selene remarked. "I'm surprised more first years don't find that intimidating."

"I think anyone who's gotten this far shouldn't be so easily scared off." Emily said. "Ginny, relax! Why so edgy?"

"We're off to Beacon Academy!" Gratcia exclaimed. "This is gonna be fun!"

"I think I agree...depending on the definition of fun."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **A shorter chapter to serve as the jumping off point, but now our lovely main characters are off to Beacon! Ah, season 1...when everything was innocent and you realized you forgot how insufferable Weiss could be at the beginning. (she gets better, and I do love her, but sheesh.)**_

 _ **Adam's age is estimated; I couldn't find anything in canon and he looked fairly young, yet significantly older than Blake, so I figured 24 was in the ballpark. Also, does Ozpin have a first name? I've never heard anyone use it in the show, and the stuff I looked up was equally unclear. Help?**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Wanda: And here's this version of The Shining Beacon! Also I have a thought for what Emily and Gratcia/Ginny's semblances are going to be, (they are deceptive in their simplicity, I promise it) but I'm a bit stuck of what would fit Selene/Hermione. Any recommendations or suggestions would be welcome.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY...wouldn't that be nice...**_

 **Chapter 3: The Shining Beacon Remix**

Ruby Rose was one of the first students off the plane, followed closely by her half sister Yang Xaio Long. The fifteen year old was all but bursting with excitement to enter her new school; she'd been let in early thanks to an incident in the streets where she stopped a robbery lead by infamous criminal Roman Torchwick.

Now, however, she wasn't just a prodigy. She was a weapons fangirl in her element.

"Oh! Sis! Look, that guy has a collapsible staff! Oh, and that girl has a fire sword...!" Ruby started to float away, causing Yang to roll her eyes good naturedly and pull her back by her red hood. "Ow, ow..!"

"Take is easy little sis. They're just weapons."

" _Just_ weapons?" Ruby squeaked, staring at Yang as if she'd spoken blasphemy. "They're extensions of ourselves – a part of us! Ahh, they're all so awesome!"

"Well, why aren't you swooning over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?"

With a whirr and a click, Ruby unfolded her weapon and cuddled with it, swinging the massive sniper-scythe down towards the ground with one hand as if it weighed nothing. Particularly impressive when you take into account that, fully unfolded, Crescent Rose was bigger than her wielder.

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose." Ruby said. "I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people. But better."

Yang let out an affectionate sigh and pulled Ruby's hood down over her face. Despite her best attempts, her younger sister was very socially awkward and not good at meeting new people. "C'mon Ruby, you really need to make some friends of your own."

"But why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby asked innocently.

 _There's nothing else to it,_ Yang thought before taking a big step back into the crowd. "Actuallymyfriendsarewithmenowgottagobye!" The group shot past Ruby, spinning her in a circle and leaving her dizzy and stumbling.

"Waaait! Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Do we have dorms? Oh, I don't know what I'm doing." Defeated, Ruby fell backwards...landing on top of someone's luggage, sending cases crashing in every direction.

"What do you think you're doing?!" An angry female voice demanded. Ruby blinked the stars out of her eyes to see a girl Yang's age glaring down at her. She was dressed in white and blue, with a rapier hanging from her belt. Her white hair was tied up in a ponytail that fell down her left side. She looked furious.

"You're _sorry_?" The girl echoed indigently. "Do you have any idea the damage you could have just caused?"

"Uh..." Ruby stammered, unsure of how to respond. Instead she picked up a case and meekly offered it to the angry girl.

"Give me that." The girl retrieved a bottle from inside the case and began waving it in front of Ruby's eyes. "This is Dust. Mined and purified in a Schnee quarry."

"Uhh..."

"What are you, brain-dead? Dust! Fire! Water! Lightning! Energy! Are you getting any of this? Is any of this sinking in?"

Unfortunately for both of them, the bottle the girl was waving under her nose was cracked, spilling dust in the air around Ruby. Still dazed, Ruby got up and then sneezed – which ignited the dust and caused a miniature explosion.

The bottle the girl was holding went flying, rolling to a stop at the foot of a nearby group of five. Adam knelt down and picked it up, his eyes darkening behind the decorative mask he wore on his face. Blake's expression became carefully neutral when she recognized Weiss Schnee. Emily glanced over at him, and watched the poor girl get yelled at with some sympathy.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!"

"I'm really sorry!" Ruby protested, nervously tapping her fingers together.

"You complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Oi. Give it a rest, Schnee. It was an accident."

Ruby let out a small yelp and turned around. Five people had walked up behind her without her noticing. The one who had spoken was a girl with curly bronze hair, held back from her face by two small clips.

The girl puffed up. "Do you have any idea who you're-?"

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to one of the largest Dust Companies in the world." Adam said, still examining the Dust container in his hand. With a snort, he tossed it at Weiss, who barely caught it and stared at him.

"Finally!" She exclaimed. "Some recognition."

"A company best known for the questionable legality of its work force, and shady business practices." Adam continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I hear their biggest critics have a habit of disappearing, or abruptly recanting their statements whenever another 'big project' rolls around."

The girl – Weiss – went red at the face. "H-How dare you!"

One of the other girls – one with red hair - apparently decided to spare the heiress from Adam's scorn, because she cut in quickly. "Miss, if you don't want people to trigger Dust, maybe you shouldn't carry them in unmarked cases on a low cart." She picked up the final stray case and placed it on the carrier. "Just a thought."

Weiss's face grew a bit redder still, before she grabbed the cart handle and stomped off.

The faunus redhead – the one with fox ears – sighed dramatically. "She's bound to be a handful. I wish her teammates the best of luck." She then turned her attention to Ruby. "You alright there?"

"Y-Yeah." Ruby said, before calling after Weiss. "I'll make it up to you!"

Weiss gave no indication she heard. Ruby sighed heavily. "Welcome to Beacon," She said to herself.

"Don't take it too hard." The bronze haired girl said, putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "It's the first day. Everyone's on edge."

"Thank you," Ruby said shyly, turning around to look among the group. Most of them were taller and older-looking, and she couldn't meet the sole boy's eyes without blushing. She knew what Yang would want her to do, but she felt too intimidated to speak up.

The human redhead smiled down at her and said, "I'm Emily. This is Adam, Gratcia, Selene and Blake."

"You can call me Ginny," Gractia added.

"O-Oh. I'm Ruby." The silver eyed girl said with some relief.

"You alright? That's was quite the explosion." Blake asked mildly.

Ruby flushed slightly before nodding. "Y-Yeah. I'm okay. It wasn't that bad..."

"Uh...hi." The group turned around to see a nervous looking blonde boy with a sword strapped to his side. "I...I'm Jaune Arc. ...Do you know which way the auditorium is?"

Gratcia looked amused. "Sure. It's this way."

 ****~Line Break~****

Ruby was nervous. She had friends! Or, m-maybe they were just acquaintances, b-but that was more than she had expected after Yang ditched her!

"All I'm saying is motion sickness is much more common then people let on," Jaune said defensively in response to Ruby's knee-jerk calling him Vomit Boy.

"I know – you should have seen Selene's face when we passed twenty thousand feet. Green as fresh grass." Gratcia noted. Selene scowled and elbowed the fox girl in the ribs, causing her to sputter a curse and glare at her. "You have no sense of humor!"

"I do to. It's just more refined," Selene said loftily, pointing her nose in the air. Gratcia made a gagging noise, and ducked away from the next attempted elbowing.

Ruby giggled at the scene. She was slightly reminded of the dynamic between her father and uncle, especially when they were out on missions. "So...I have this thing." She unlocked Crescent Rose and swung it into the sidewalk. Jaune yelped in surprise, while Emily looked on in appreciation.

"I-Is that a Scythe?" Jaune asked nervously.

"It's _beautiful_ ," Emily said earnestly, lightly brushing her fingers along the smooth surface of the embedded sniper rifle.

Ruby blushed bright red. "Thanks! I-I made her myself."

"You did?! Jaune squeaked.

"You came from Signal, didn't you?" Blake guessed. Ruby nodded. "All the students at Signal design and create their own weapons."

"Yeah. My-my dad teaches there." Ruby said shyly.

"My dad's a famous Hunter," Jaune said, before adding more dispiritedly, "It's, uh, quite the reputation to live up to..."

Gratcia gave the blonde boy a sympathetic look, remembering Ron and his low self esteem when compared to their older brothers. "Hey. You're at Beacon now. There's no better place to make a name for yourself."

Ruby nodded in agreement, before looking around shyly. "So...w-what do you guys have?"

Emily grinned and unsheathed the broadsword she had strapped to her back. "This is Crystal. Maybe not the most creative name, but..." She pressed the red gem on the hilt, and the blade retracted and transformed into a large crossbow. "She as a secret."

"Oh! Its both short range and long range! That's awesome!" Ruby cheered.

"If we're showing off, this is Widow's Bite." Gractia said with a grin, dramatically bringing down her two curved blades, linked together by a reinforced chain. "These lovely ladies helped me draw with Phyrra Nikos during the Regional Tournament."

"Kusarigama!" Ruby gasped. "That must have taken a long time to make!"

"It was a pain in the neck getting the right length of chain," Gratcia admitted. "But it was _so_ worth it! She's never let me down."

She then gave Selene a pointed look. The other girl nodded and unhooked her bracelet, which promptly extended into a rifle with a bladed tip. "I haven't named it yet," She started.

"Because you're boring," Adam said. Selene shot him a dirty look while Blake and Emily snickered; it wasn't often that the older boy admitted to not being so above it all in the end.

"...which isn't to say I _won't,_ thanks you guys," Selene finished sarcastically. "I prefer my weapons to be simple and practical. It makes them easier to handle."

"Nothing wrong with that." Blake said. When Ruby turned her enthusiastic expression towards her, the cat faunus smiled slightly before raising her own. "This is Gambol Shroud. The sheath doubles as a blade, and the hilts have guns built into them."

Ruby jumped up and down with a grin on her face, before pausing and blushing intensely again. "Sorry, I'm just a huge weapons fan. It's always exciting to see what other people are using."

"If you girls are done, we might want to keep moving," Adam said mildly. "We're running low on time."

The group jumped slightly, realizing they had lost track of time, before hurrying onwards towards the designated meeting place.

 ****Beacon Auditorium****

The room was filled almost to capacity. Emily spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd; an obnoxious boor named Cardin whom she had thrashed during the second round at the Regionals, Phyrra Nikos, and a few others scattered across the expansive room.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Ruby immediately zeroed in on her sister, nearly running off before stopping herself and turning on her heel. "Oh, that's my sister – I gotta go – I'll see you after the ceremony!"

"Bye!" Emily waved as the cute silver eyed girl vanished into the crowd. Smiling, she glanced over at her teammates and whispered as if divulging a conspiracy. "I want one."

Gratcia giggled, wearing an identically warm expression. "Yeah, me too. Shall we shop locally or go online?"

Selene turned red and elbowed her friend again, while Gratcia raised an eyebrow at Adam. The bull faunus raised his hands defensively. "Don't look at me like that. You're my sisters."

Jaune looked a bit dispirited again. "Aw, man! Where else am I going to find a nice, quirky girl to talk to?" He wandered off on his own, apparently oblivious to the fact he had caught the eye of another redhead in the crowd...

"Ahem." The team looked up; Professor Ozpin was beginning the opening speech. Emily thought she might be imagining it, but the older man seemed a little distracted. "I'll keep this brief. You've all traveled here in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you're finished, you plan to utilize those skills in order to protect people. But when I look among you, all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you from this. But your time at this school will teach you that knowledge will only take you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"I swear, if I didn't know any better I would have thought he was talking to you, Mia." Gractia remarked. Selene rolled her eyes but didn't contradict the other girl.

Adam didn't blink at Gratcia calling Selene 'Mia'. His sisters had told him their stories after a few years spent together, Blake too – though they didn't tell her everything in hopes of preserving whatever innocence she still maintained.

He hadn't admitted it to them, but he had promised himself that night that he would take care of them – that they wouldn't die young like they had in that other world.

"The professor seems a bit lost in thought, don't you think?" Emily asked, brow furrowed.

Blake shrugged. "It's probably the same speech he has to give every year."

"Well, at least it's better than, 'don't go to the third floor unless you want to die horribly'." Selene said with a scowl.

"I don't think any opening speech could be worse than that one," Emily said sourly.

If there was one silver lining to the girl's life at Hogwarts, it was that they hadn't been there long enough to experience the wrath of the Toad from Hell.

 ****Ballroom, Nighttime****

"C'mon Ruby, introduce me to your friends!"

Ruby laughed nervously, but obligingly brought her golden haired sister over towards the corner her new friends had staked out. Blake and Selene were both reading, while Emily was singing something she hadn't heard before.

" _hide your heart under the bed and lock the secret drawer. Love is a demon and you're the one he's coming for, oh my lord..._ " Spotting Ruby and Yang approaching, Emily sat up and smiled. "Hi Ruby. This must be your sister?"

"Yup. I'm Yang. Thanks for looking out for Ruby in the courtyard." Yang swept her gaze over the group. _A couple of older girls? Hm, well they'd make good teammates if we don't run into each other during initiation...oh, that's one good looking young man_.

Deliberately looking slightly to the left so Adam wouldn't notice her staring, Yang waved hello. "What're you names?"

"Emily Potter," The redhead shook Yang's hand. "The girl on my left is Gratcia Nightshade, the two hiding behind their books are Blake Belladonna and Selene Lumen, and the one who singlehandedly carried most of our luggage is Adam Taurus."

"You made me carry it," Adam grumbled.

"Where'd you come from?" Yang asked curiously. "You look a little old for initiates."

"We were scouted out." Selene explained, not looking up from her book. Worlds may change, but Hermione Granger's dubious social skills stayed the same.

"Oh. That's cool."

"Have you heard anything about initiation?" Gratcia asked, brow furrowed. "When I asked Professor Ozpin, he just gave me this secretive little grin and said I'd know it when I saw it. What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think it means that whatever it is, _someone's_ not gonna like it." Emily predicted.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Wanda: And welcome to the new and improved Beacon initiation! This is part one, since the forest encounters will be slightly different from the show (as you'd expect) and I'm still planning a bit there. Plus I wanted to play up everyone interacting here.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY**_

 **Chapter 4: The First Step Remix**

" _They've grown much stronger, but they don't see the evil right in front of them..."_

" _Neither did you, before I reached out to you. Would you judge them for that?"_

 _Emily stood alone in a bright white room. She squinted into the distance, following the voices floating through the void. She could see, just faintly, a pair of people standing a great distance away from her. One was human sized, the other twice as big. They were both female, judging by the voices...which sounded so strangely familiar._

" _But Torchwick has already begun her work. If they're going to stop this before it begins..."_

" _It wouldn't matter. Her plans are too flexible at this point. She would simply find another avenue to pursue. The greatest strike will be open once she has revealed herself to them."_

" _Can't I go down and give them directions?"_

" _They wouldn't understand...and it may draw my sister's attentions to my machinations. That, I promise you, will do more harm than good."_

 _Emily tried to walk closer, to see these two strangers better. She had heard these voices before...the night of the Graveyard..._

" _Then at least let me go to the grounds again. There's more I can do. I don't have to heal anymore; I'm ready."_

" _Very well, my herald. Do what you think is right."_

"Emily. Hey. Wake up."

Emily sighed and shifted in her sleep, raising her head up and blinking lethargically at Adam. The older boy was shaking her shoulder; he was already dressed and wearing his mask. "Come on," Adam said. "If you sleep much longer, you'll miss breakfast."

"Nggghh." Emily pushed herself into a sitting position and leaned against the wall. "...Couldn't have happened on a better day."

"Bad night?" Adam asked. "Gratcia was complaining too." By which, he meant the fox girl had kicked him in the shin when he first tried to get her out of bed.

"Weird dreams." Emily responded. "Must be the jitters." With a grunt, she swung her legs out of her sleeping bag. Her adoptive brother offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet. "How's Selene?"

"If she didn't sleep well, she didn't mention it." Adam answered as they headed out of the ballroom towards the cafeteria. "Blake's already up and getting herself some food."

"Food sounds good." Emily said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. _Who is the herald? Who are those people?_

Breakfast was pancakes, which Emily appreciated. Gratcia slumped into a seat next to her, her face in one hand, before muttering, "Rotten bloody...if my dreams are going to spit weird, cryptic conversations at me, can they at least let me sleep _well_?"

"Cryptic?" Emily asked, surprised and confused.

Gratcia shrugged. "I had a weird dream. It was a white void, and I heard two people talking. It's weird because I've had a similar dream before."

Emily started and put her cutlery down. "That's funny; that's the same dream I had last night."

"Huh?!"

"Strange..." Emily said blankly. "People don't often share dreams. Not even witches."

"You think that means they're important?" Gratcia asked.

"Well, there's one other thing we have in common is where we come from." Emily said meaningfully. Gratcia's eyes narrowed. "Has Selene had a dream like this?"

"Have I what?" Selene had finished loading up her plate and was walking over to join them. Adam was talking to Blake, who was glaring at Cardin Winchester. The other boy was laughing obnoxiously with a couple of other tough guys with horribly tacky haircuts. (Emily cringed a bit when she saw them. A mohawk? Really?)

"Emily and I have been having weird dreams." Gratcia said.

Selene raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you two should be telling me?"

Gratcia gave her a withering look. "I'm being _serious_." She emphasized. "Besides, wouldn't I be dreaming about _you_ if that was the case?"

Selene's cheeks turned slightly red, and she quickly redirected the conversation. Emily chuckled as she remembered that incident; Ginny had fallen into a river and the bookworm had been the first to give rescue breaths...though it turned out Ginny hadn't needed them. "Okay, right. Very serious dreams."

"There's always a white void and two people talking." Emily answered. "The voices have been the same...I had a dream like this before I remember waking up here."

Selene became very quiet. "Two people talking? Did...did one call the other her herald?"

Emily and Gratcia's eyes widened in concert. "Yes," The fox girl said in alarm. "What do you think it means?"

Selene looked rueful. "I wish I could tell you. I don't have enough information. But I doubt three people having such similar dreams is a coincidence." Selene _hated_ not having all the information. It was the obsessive side to her bookworm personality.

"WILL ALL FIRST YEAR STUDENTS PLEASE PROCEED TO THE LOCKER HALL." Glynda Goodwitch's voice rang through the speakers. "INITIATION WILL BEGIN IN THIRTY MINUTES. DO NOT FORGET YOUR GEAR."

Emily shook her head. "We'll worry about that later. For now, we should finish preparing." her friends nodded begrudgingly and headed out to the hall.

Ruby and Yang were collecting their weapons when Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren finished their 'conversation', _which mainly consisted of Nora rambling until Ren finally spoke up to point out a hole in her logic_.

"But not, _together_ together..." Nora said, defying accusations of romantic interest in her friend from...herself, before skipping after Ren towards the Emerald Forest.

"Wonder what those two are so worked up about," Ruby muttered as she retrieved her beloved sniper scythe from the locker, holding it close as if it were her lost child.

"Oh, who knows," Yang said with a shrug, before turning towards her sister. "Now, you seem awfully chipper this morning!"

Ruby grinned. "Yup. No more awkward small talk and getting-to-know-you stuff. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She then cuddled Cresent Rose against her chest.

"Well, remember Ruby," Yang started, looking slightly apprehensive as she brought up the subject, "You're not the only one going through initiation...if you're going to grow up, you'll need to meet new people and find some friends of your own."

Ruby groaned loudly. "Uuugh, you sound like _dad_." She complained. "Firstly, what does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And second off, I don't need people to help me grow up! _I. Drink. Milk._ "

"Well, some of those new people might be good _at_ fighting." Emily suggested as she walked by. "There's that to consider!"

"Be patient with her. Some people don't make friends all at once." Gratcia added.

"Don't take too much life advice from these two. They have a habit of jumping out of airplanes." Adam deadpanned.

"That only happened once!" Gratcia complained, while Ruby and Yang both looked intrigued at that.

"Now you know how I feel." Selene said dryly. "I swear the next person who references boilers around me is going to be sent to the Moon the hard way."

 _ ****~At the Emerald Forest~****_

"So..." Emily cautiously tapped her foot against the metal springboard she was standing on. They were all at the top of a grassy mountain overlooking the emerald forest. Due to the lack of airships or guard rails, she had a sinking feeling. "Cannonballs?"

"Cannonballs." Blake confirmed. Giving the older girl a sneaky smile, she said, "Just remember to land on your feet."

"Not all of us are cat faunus." Gratcia said, looking green in the face. Something the fox girl didn't like acknowledging was that she was terrified of heights.

"It'll be fine, Ginny." Selene said comfortingly. "Just use Widow's Bite to slow your fall when you hit the trees."

"That's if I don't hit them _face first_ ," Gratcia said unhappily.

"Don't think about it like that, that will just make it worse...!"

"For years, you have trained to become warriors," Ozpin started to monologue again. He was pretty good at that. "Today, your skills will be tested in the Emerald Forest."

"I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." Glynda said, still looking as severe as ever. _Was that her only expression?,_ Emily wondered. "Allow us to put your minds at ease. You will be assigned teammates...today."

"What? Oh," Ruby said, not looking very happy to learn this.

"These teammates will be with your for the duration of your stay at Beacon." Ozpin continued. "So it would be in your best interest to find someone with whom you can work well."

Ruby let out another small noise of distress.

"That being said... _the first person you make eye contact with in the forest will be your partner for the next four years._ "

"WHAT?" Ruby cried out.

"Those sound suspiciously like contradictory statements, Professor," Emily said nervously. _Dear god,_ please _don't make have to team up with_ Cardin _..._

"See? I told you!" Nora said gleefully, pointing at Ren.

"After you have partnered up," Ozpin went on as if there had been no interruptions. "You will make your way to the Northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Don't hesitate to destroy anything in your path...or you _will_ die."

"I take it back, there _is_ a sort of 'don't go to the third floor or die' speech." Selene said in an undertone.

"This time is different." Adam pointed out. When Selene blinked at him, he dryly pointed out, "This time, you have a weapon."

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not interfere. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and then return to the top of the cliff. Any questions?" He didn't really wait. "Now, take your positions!" Ozpin commanded.

Emily sighed fatalistically. "See you guys there." The metal spring then flung her through the air, making her the first person launched.

"If I barf, I'm blaming you headmaster!" Gractia moaned before she, too, became airborne.

"There better not be any trolls," Selene muttered, taking a step back into a fighting stance before flying through the air with her weapon at the ready.

Adam winked at Blake. "Good luck, kid." Blake rolled her eyes and smiled in gratitude as they were both launched seconds apart.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Next time, pairs are formed, Grimm are fought, Semblances start to make an appearance, and we get a little hint about our mysterious voices!**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Wanda: Hello again everyone! Here's to a cute chapter where the teams all form. I was listening to Mariah Carey while I was writing this, which probably explains the sweetness. I promise, more action next chapter - after all, we've got a Deathstalker, a Nevermore, and a third creature for SAGE's side of the fight that I haven't revealed yet. It'll be cool (I hope!)**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY (wouldn't that be fun)**_

 **Chapter 5: The Emerald Forest Remix**

Emily swung her legs and arms around as she hurtled through the air. _I really wish I had my Firebolt right about now,_ she thought wryly. Instead, she came up with a different tact. Drawing her sword, she lowered her aura but reached for her magic.

The thing she, Gratcia and Selene had discovered about magic and aura was that the two didn't tend to play nice together – or at least, that using them simultaneously was severely draining. So Eileen sacrificed some protection for the ability to slow her descent. She spun around, conjured a long chain with a hook in it, and flung it back towards the mountain. The hook stuck in the side, and Emily slowly spiralled around the cliff face. She hurtled around it twice before spying a drop off point – a pool of water. Releasing the chain, she quickly took on a cliff diver's position and hit the surface like a bullet. her aura still preventing her from breaking anything.

Breaking the surface, Emily quickly tossed Crystal out to the side to keep it from weighing her down. Then she swam to the side and climbed out of the water.

"Well. Not the smoothest landing, but it'll do." She cast a drying spell on herself with a flick of her wrist and picked up Crystal again. "Now, to go north...let's see if I can find one of my siblings."

Emily walked for a while without meeting anything or anyone. The Emerald Forest was almost kind of pretty, she mused. If it was less Grimm infested, it would probably make a good camping spot. The weather was quite pleasant, the sun hanging in a clear sky and a soft breeze completing the good feeling.

Which meant that _something_ had to come along and ruin it.

An Ursa burst out of the foliage to attack her. Emily grinned and unsheathed Crystal, swinging the massive blade up at the creature's face. The creature snarled and stumbled backwards a few steps before taking a swipe at her. Emily jumped over it, unleashing a flurry of slashes at the creature, pushing it back against one of the trees. Hitting the transform button, Emily swung her crossbow up to eye level and fired three bolts straight into its chest, nailing it to the tree.

"You're still showy in your style, Emily."

The redhead smiled and spun around to face Adam. He had walked up behind her, ramming his sword straight through the Ursa's partner and all but sawing the creature in half, all while barely breaking stride. He stood in front of her with a knowing smirk on his face.

"I like showy. I am a girl." Emily responded with a small smile.

"Shall we go?" Adam tilted his head toward the northern temple.

"Yeah." They started walking. "I hope Gratcia's managing."

 **~Elsewhere~**

As a matter of fact, Gratcia _was_ managing. Sort of. She had indeed vomited twice upon hitting the ground, though she had managed to pull like Ruby and Ren using Widow's Bite to keep from splattering against the forest floor.

"Lousy, worthless, bloody insane excuse of an initiation, when I get back there, I am going to introduce Beacon to the concept of Howlers...!" Gratcia was ranting as she stumbled through the woods. "They're all gonna need hearing aides when I'm done with them!"

She was beginning to wish she had brought some food with her. Thank Oum for water bottles.

Luckily for the Beacon teachers, a couple of Beowolves caught sight of the stumbling girl and offered themselves up as targets of ire in their place. Gratcia's ears swiveled towards her right, and she jumped up into the tree branches, just barely dodging the snapping jaws of the leader.

"Oh, what is this, pick on the airsick girl day?" Gratcia snarled. "Well, if you wanna die _that_ badly, _who am I to stop you_?!"

Unsheathing Widow's Bite, Gratcia leapt into the air and swung the weapon in a wide arc. The unfortunate Grimm below was immediately sliced into several different pieces, like bread being cut at a bakery. Gratcia landed on point and hurtled toward towards the second one, slashing several times before uppercutting the monster's head clean off.

As she turned to face the third one, there was a _crack_ and a hole exploded in the Beowolf's chest. The creature let out a small whine before dropping down dead, revealing Selene standing behind it with her bladed shotgun at the ready.

"I had it!" Gratcia protested after a second of surprised silence.

Selene chuckled before walking over and pulling out a small bottle. Her friend let out a happy gasp and yanked it out of her hands, taking one of the air sickness pills inside and swallowing it in one gulp. "I thought you might need one when I heard about the launchpads." She said, before yelping when the fox girl pulled her into a crushing hug. "Easy on the ribs, Ginny! And I don't want to accidentally stab myself in the foot."

Gratcia quickly let go of her, making a small noise of relief when she saw Selene's weapon safely embedded in the ground instead of someone's foot. "So, shall we go find a relic, partner?"

"Sounds good." Selene responded. The two girls high fived and began heading north.

 **~Elsewhere~**

"Gotta find Yang," Ruby repeated to herself anxiously as she hurtled through the woods. "Gotta find Yang, gotta find...! Yang! _Yang_!"

The forest didn't answer her.

 _Oh, this is bad, this is very very bad, what if I can't find her, what if someone finds her first..._ Ruby blinked rapidly, considering her options should worse come to worse. _There's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny! I don't think he's that good in a fight though._ In her mind, she saw Jaune being savaged by cartoon Beowolves. _Oh! What about Blake? So mysterious. So calm! Plus she likes books! Then again, I don't think I could hold a conversation with her..._ a cartoon Ruby was babbling on while an annoyed Blake slowly sidled away.

 _There's Emily! She's nice! She's smart! She likes weapons! Oh, there's also Adam...but he's kinda intimidating..._ Ruby imagined a cartoon of herself totally dwarfed by a frowning, disapproving image of Adam. _Oh! There's also Gratcia! She's a prankster like Yang! And Selene, she likes books too. She seems nice..._

 _Is that everyone I know in this school? There's Yang, Jaune, Blake...Emily, Adam, Gratcia, Selene and...!_

Ruby saw someone up in the foliage and skidded to a halt. She looked up from the ground, her silver eyes meeting Weiss Schnee's blank blue ones willingly.

The other girl stared at her for a moment, glanced in the direction where Jaune was nailed to a cliffside, sighed and said, "I guess we're partners."

A breakfast encounter with Gratcia had broken down her barriers...just a bit.

 _-Flashback_

" _You know, people might be less adverse to hanging out with you if you didn't constantly insult them." Gratcia remarked carelessly as she grabbed a tray from the pile._

" _Hey! I didn't ask you for advice." Weiss said indigently._

" _Of course you didn't, but you're going to be alone for a long time if you don't fix that attitude of yours." Gratcia snapped. "No one likes hanging out with a snob, and sometime you're going to get into a situation where neither your dad's name nor your money is going to get you what you want. Good friends can't be bought, Weiss. And I garen-damn-tee you that going through a connection-heavy school like Beacon is going to be a lot harder if you alienate everyone in your year."_

 _Weiss crossed her arms, trying to look indigent when she was actually hurt. "W-Well, that's exactly what people expect me to be! Poised, dignified, and cold! People wouldn't befriend a Schnee any other way."_

 _Gratcia's eyes softened just a bit. "And who's fault is that? When you've got something like that to overcome, there's nothing for it but to prove people wrong. That way, even if you can't win them over, you prove that you're better then them. That has to count for something, right?"_

 _She then walked off to get some food, leaving Weiss with her thoughts._

 _-End Flashback_

Ruby cheered. "That's awesome!" She flash stepped over to Weiss's side, startling the heiress as she put an arm around her neck. "Weiss, I may not be good at dealing with people but that doesn't mean I'm not good at dealing with monsters! You're going to see a whole new side of me today, and you'll be like, 'wow, that Ruby is really, really cool." Beat. "and I wanna be her friend.'

Weiss rolled her eyes and scoffed, squaring her shoulders. _She didn't say it was going to be easy,_ she thought with some grim determination.

 **~Elsewhere~**

Yang was wandering through the forest, bored. She'd been out here for a while but she hadn't seen anyone yet. "Helloooo. Is anyone out there? Hellooooo, I'm getting bored here..."

"Yang?"

Yang turned around with a smile. Blake had emerged from the treeline, leaving behind the bisected corpses of two Ursa. "I thought that was your voice," The cat faunus remarked with a small smile. She'd been hoping that she'd run into Adam or Gratcia, but Yang had left a good impression the previous night. Blake thought they might get along well.

"Finally!" Yang said cheerfully. "At the rate I was going, I was afraid I'd have to go alone this year."

"You did get pretty far ahead," Blake said mildly, referencing the blonde's landing strategy.

"Nothing wrong with getting a head start." Yang said decisively.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **I'm heavily debating shipping Blake with Sun or Yang. I honestly like the two ships equally, and I could have a lot of fun with Sun being constantly threatened by a hovering Adam after showing interest in Blake. I'm kind of planning to ship Gratcia/Ginny and Selene/Hermione together, while Emily's future partner is a secret (for now!) Tell me what you guys think!**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Team SAGE:**

 _ **Wanda: To those who have been shilling the OT3 of Blake/Sun/Yang - your enthusiasm is contagious and noted! Haven't made a final decision, but it's starting to sound very appealing. Also, in this chapter I faced my demon of fight scenes and I hope it turned out well.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY.**_

 **Chapter 6: Players and Pieces Remix**

"Adam? Is it my imagination, or is the ground shaking a bit?"

The bull faunus turned around to face his partner, who was uncertainly tapping her foot against the ground. He was about to say she was imagining it when he felt it too – a slight tremor, directly underneath them. "No. I feel it too."

Emily grimaced and drew Crystal, looking around. "Are there any subterranean species of Grimm?"

"Rumours and hearsay." Adam responded lowly, one hand on Wilt. "If any exist, no one's survived meeting one to talk about it."

"That's not good..." Emily muttered.

" _What's_ not good?" Selene's voice floated from nearby. A moment later, she and an irritated, black blood caked Gratcia emerged from the treeline. The fox girl tossed a beowolf limb to the right, grumbling imprecations under her breath.

Abruptly the ground pulsed again, this time much more violently. The group quickly closed ranks, weapons drawn. " _that_ ," Emily said grimly. "Whatever it is, it's in the ground!"

Gratcia's ear twitched, and her eyes widened. "MOVE!"

The four shot forward, just a second before an enormous pair of jaws burst out of the ground, snapping at the air they had been occupying a few seconds earlier. Emily spun around, weapon at the ready, to see their new adversary leap out of the ground, flying towards them.

It looked like a thresher shark, albeit with brown mottled scales and the white, red lined bone masks that all Grimm seemed to share. It was fifty feet long, and its gaping maw revealed two sets of jagged teeth as long as Selene's arm. Its tail was made of blades.

Selene fired three times into the creature's face before throwing herself to the right. Again, the creature just missed them, smashing into the earth and vanishing below the surface.

"Uuuhh, that's _definitely_ not good!" Emily swore. "RUN!"

No one contested this; the team burst forward through the trees, the ground trembling right behind them. "Damn it, how are we going to loose this thing?" Selene asked.

"Grimm never give up the hunt! You know that!" Adam shot back. "We have to kill it!"

"How?" Emily asked, before cursing again and squeezing her eyes shut. With a _crack_ , she apparated several feet forward, teleporting out from the thresher's jaw as it emerged right beneath her feet. "It's underground!"

"The environment is against us!" Gratcia agreed, angling her ears so she could hear the creature's moaning. It was their only way to detect its movements. "I think we should try to get to lower ground! If it gets caught in a cliff face, we could get better shots in!"

"It's a start!" Emily gasped out, shifting her grip on Crystal and striking away the shark's tail again. "The old temple's straight ahead! Let's drive this bastard into a corner...!"

 ****~At the Temple~****

A short ways ahead, Yang and Blake were the first to reach the relics. "Chess pieces?" Blake said in surprise, examining the various black and gold pieces. She'd heard that the Headmaster had a soft spot for that game, but it still struck her as an odd thing to use as a relic...

"Some of them are missing. Somebody must have gotten here first." Yang noted. This was true; Cardin and his partner had cheated a shortcut through the woods and had already gone ahead.

"Well, I guess we should pick one." Blake decided.

"Hmm..." Yang examined their options for a moment before picking up the knight. "How about a cute little pony?"

Blake rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Sure. Why not?" She was starting to like Yang more and more. Maybe it was her upbeat, fearless personality, but Yang had a way of making everything seem fun. Even fighting Grimm.

"So, all we have to do now is go to the cliff-" The violent tremor nearly threw Yang off balance. Blake steadied her with a hand on the shoulder, eyes wide. "What the heck was that?!"

"...An earthquake?"

Blake's question was drowned out by a shriek in the distance. "Some girl's in trouble!" Yang said in alarm, reactivating Ember Celica.

If Jaune hadn't been so terrified at that moment, he would have gotten a distant feeling that he had lost man points. Of course, that sort of thing doesn't seem as important when you're dangling from a Deathstalker's stinger. His partner Phyrra had run on ahead, planning a counterattack as best she could given the sudden attack, all while he cried frantically, _"This is not the relic!_ "

Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss had walked for a while before realizing they were lost. After a short argument, Weiss conceded to attempting Ruby's idea on finding an alternate rout. And she was sorely regretting having done so now that she was dangling from a Nevermore's talon hundreds of feet above the ground.

"Ruby! I told you this was a terrible idea!" She screamed.

Ruby didn't seem _nearly_ as concerned as she should be. "We're _fine_! Stop worrying!"

"I am _so_ far beyond worrying!"

"...In a good way?"

" _In a bad way! In a very bad way!_ " Weiss shrieked.

Ruby's reaction was even worse. "Well, then why don't we just jump!"

She had to be kidding - "What are you, _insane?!_ " Weiss demanded. But she got no answer. Ruby had let go, and was now plummeting/falling with style towards the earth. "Oh, you _insufferable_ little red-"

 _Back on the ground..._

"Blake, did you hear that? What should we-?" Blake's cat ear twitched, and she was pointing towards the sky.

"Heads uuuuup!" Ruby shrieked as she cannoned towards the earth. Luckily for her, Jaune had been thrown by the Deathstalker at roughly the same time, so he hit her and broke her momentum, resulting in both of them flying semi-harmlessly into a tree.

"Did your sister just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked rhetorically, trying to get her bearings.

"WATCH YOUR STEP!"

Yang let out a yelp of surprise and jumped aside, just in time to miss Widow's Bite slashing at the Ground Shark which had emerged just behind her. Gratcia landed a moment later, having slashed the creature's mouth again, driving it further back. Emily reappeared next to her, holding Adam by the arm.

The older boy spat and muttered, "I fucking _hate_ doing that..." while Selene emerged from around the corner. Emily shot him an apologetic look in response.

"Was that a-?" Blake started, astonished.

"Yes, yes, and no, if I'm guessing your questions right," Gratcia said, struggling to catch her breath. "Yes, subterranean Grimm are real, yes that's one of them, _no_ that didn't kill it!"

"Oh. Great!" Yang sputtered, her internal stress meter ratcheting up several notches. If it was underground, it would be hard to see coming.

Any further conversation was interrupted – again – by several explosions from the treeline. A minute later, an ursa crashed through the line, and then collapsed on the ground, tossing its rider forward. Nora Valkyrie got to her feet and frowned at her ride, slightly let down. "Aww...it's broken."

Her childhood friend and constant beleaguered minder, Lie Ren, stumbled out of the trees a few seconds later, steadying himself on the corpse. "Nora? Please, don't ever do that again..." He looked up and jumped, somehow, Nora managed to get past him again.

Emily let out a small yelp when Nora abruptly appeared right next to her, looking with utter fascination at one of the rooks. _How the hell did she get here that fast, short of_ apparating _?_ She wondered, amazed and perturbed.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle~"

"NORA!" Ren yelled, exhaustion making him impatient. Sometimes he wished it was easier to keep up with her, even if he would never ask her to change...even if he found it charming...

"Coming Ren!" Nora said cheerily.

"Did she just _ride in_ on an Ursa?" Blake asked, not really expecting anyone to respond.

"Your ability to narrate the obvious is unparalleled." Selene said dryly. "Maybe we should _pick some relics_ before those things get back-"

The Deathstalker appeared next, hot on Phyrra's tail as the talented young fighter rushed to catch up with her partner. "Jaune!"

Ruby, having shaken her head clear, jumped down from the tree, ignoring the blonde boy calling after her. Spying her sister, Ruby shot over and gave Yang a relieved hug. Eileen glanced around. "Well, lets see – Ruby, Yang, Blake, Nora...Jaune, Phyrra, Ren...where's Weiss?"

Blake silently pointed upwards.

The Nevermore screeched, nearly drowning out Weiss's anguished " _How could you leave me?!_ " as her grip on the creature's talons started to slip dangerously.

"I said jump!" Ruby called up to her partner.

"She's going to fall," Blake noted in concern.

"Oh boy," Selene muttered, hurrying forward and focusing her magic.

Weiss shrieked when she felt herself slip and fall...only for an invisible force to grab her and slow her descent to a crawl. By the time she reached the ground, she was almost floating until she lightly touched down on her feet. Selene, standing nearby, just smiled. "You okay, princess?"

"I'm...fine...how did you _do_ that?" Weiss asked, staring at her. "Is-is that your Semblance?"

Selene shrugged. "Er, sort of. It's a little harder to explain-" The ground gave another violent tremble. "-I'll attempt it sometime when we aren't all in mortal danger! Shit! It's recovered, Ginny!"

Ruby examined the scene. The Nevermore flew overhead, the Deathstalker was bolting straight towards them, and the ground was shaking more violently. "We should go. There's no point in fighting these things. Our objective is straight ahead." She gestured to the mountain.

Jaune, who had stumbled down from the tree, laughed nervously. "Run and live! There's an idea I can get behind!"

"They won't give up that easily." Adam warned the group. "But we should get to better ground."

"You're right." Emily agreed. "One team for each Grimm. We'll take the land shark." With that, she grabbed a black knight off the table. Gratcia snatched the other black knight, having overheard from a senior how teams were chosen.

RWBY and JNPR also picked up their relics. Then, as one, the teams ran forward, the Deathstalker and Land Shark at their heels.

 _ ****~Near the Mountain~****_

The twelve students weren't able to put much space between themselves and the two burrowing Grimm, which was a bit of a problem. The Nevermore had flown ahead and perched on the tower of the old temple, effectively trapping them between the three forces.

"Well, that's great!" Yang said sourly.

The ground shook again, and the Land Shark burst out of the ground. "Ah! Run!" Jaune cried in a panic, rushing forward. Emily nodded at her partners. Adam and Selene went onward while she and Gratcia spun around and faced the creatures.

"Protegro!" The girls said in unison. The Shark and the Deathstalker both slammed into the invisible shield, howling in anger and surprise. Knowing the barrier wouldn't last long with the two massive creatures pounding away at it, they then pulled the spell back and replaced it with an attack. " _Incendio!"_

The wave of fire burst forward, striking the Shark head on and burning its sensitive face. With a screech of pain, it burrowed back underground. The Deathstalker was less fazed; it tanked the blow and was back to the chase a moment later. Luckily for its intended prey, they had apparated out of the way once the spell had been completed.

Nora, meanwhile, was distracting the Nevermore. Pulling her weapon off her back, she fired several grenades up at it. Two hit its face; the bird crawed in irritation and banked heavily to the right.

Weiss used her glyphs to go back, grab Nora and pull her forward. Blake and Ren both blasted the Deathstalker's pincers aside, and threw a few cheap blows at the Grimm's eyes before running to catch up.

"Emily!" Adam yelled. When the redhead looked up, he pointed Wilt into the crevice below the old temple. "Down!"

The witch nodded in understanding, before turning around and pointing a finger. _This is going to give me a headache in the morning,_ she thought wistfully, before casting a summoning spell and apparating at the same time.

The Land Shark erupted out of the ground and flopped through the air like an air drowned fish. Blake cried out in alarm when she saw her friends disappear over the side of the mountain until she heard Gratcia yell back up at her.

"Don't worry about us! _You just stay focused!_ "

 _ ****~Down in the pit~****_

The cliff side was a steep one with few handholds. The ground had various stone spikes sticking out of the ground, like something out of Vlad Dracula's nightmares. Adam had climbed down about halfway before the Land Shark righted itself and made a go at him.

 _When the rose wilts, the petals scatter,_ Adam thought, before unsheathing Wilt. The blast of compressed red light struck the shark's mask head on, splintering it. Despite the horrible pain, the creature continued its rush and knocked Adam backwards off the mountain.

Gratcia quickly anchoured herself into the mountain with her weapon and threw herself to the left. She managed to grab Adam's arm out of the air. The cliff rushed towards them, and she spotted an alcove. "Let go!" She called to him. With a grunt, the bull faunus let go and landed on one knee on the rough surface.

Feeling her weapon fall loose, Ginny forced herself to apparate again. It made her violently dizzy, and she nearly splinched her hand off, but she managed to latch on to the rock face and recall Widow's Bite.

Several shotgun blasts drew the Land Shark away from the stranded Hunters. The Grimm turned its attention to the curlpit. Selene nodded to Emily, who transformed Crystal into its crossbow form and took aim at the fracture Adam's attack had caused in the ancient creature's face.

The Dust infused arrows struck home once, twice, and three times before the creature sent tremors that knocked both girls off their feet.

"We've got a soft spot! In the head!" Emily shouted upwards as she rolled over, narrowly dodging the bladed tail that whipped through the air and struck where she had been lying seconds earlier.

"Dust, this bastard's fast!" Selene spat, scrambling backwards and running to get out of the way of the tail again. Adam and Gratcia finally rejoined them, having gotten off the cliff.

"Then let's slow him down!" Gratcia called, and closed her eyes.

She had been the first one to start to discover her Semblance. She had been out in the cold when she was accosted by a few surly gang members. Ginny blanked for a moment, and then the group had been frozen to the wall where the police found them an hour later.

Stretching out both her arms, Gratcia infused the ground all around her with ice. This area grew as bigger the harder she concentrated, and the angry shriek both let her know it was working, and identified its location.

Emily and Selene both hurtled towards the Land Shark, which was half embedded in the ground, its movements slowed by the frigid and hardened ground. Emily transformed Crystal again and threw it with all her might; the weapon went straight through the Grimm's tail and nailed it to the ground.

" _Adam!_ " Selene yelled, digging her spear into the shark's eye. The mask had cracked open wider, revealing the creature's softer head and skull.

Adam nodded. Running forward, he unsheathed Wilt entirely. The blade glowed red and pulsed with power, Dust infused along the entire blade. Upon reaching the shark, Adam drove Wilt into its skull all the way up to the handle. There was a resounding _snapp!,_ and the Land Shark abruptly ceased moving, and lay still.

Above them, the sound of gunshots grabbed their attention. Emily looked up, blocking the sun with one hand, to see Ruby dragging the Nevermore twenty times her size up the side of the cliff, against gravity, before finally tearing its head off at the top.

"I think we're done here," She said with a grin.

 _ ****~Back at Beacon~****_

"...so that's how you did it." Adam said with a hint of admiration as the three teams found themselves back in the auditorium later that day.

Blake beamed, which was quite unlike her normally. Her family's praise meant a lot to her. And coming from Adam, who rarely showed his emotions blatantly, this was high praise indeed.

"I swear, I'm sleeping in tomorrow no matter what." Gratcia muttered. "I've strained muscles I didn't even know I _had_."

"Amen to that," Emily and Phyrra muttered simultaneously. The two redheads exchanged a surprised look, before discreetly high fiving. Selene chuckled at the sight. _Strange minds think alike._

"Dove Bronzewing, Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, and Sky Lark." Ozpin intoned from the stage. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces; henceforth, you shall be called Team Cardinal. (CRDL). Lead by Cardin Winchester."

Gratcia made a face as the boorish mace wielder whooped in triumph. "What's his logic in that? It'll make him even more insufferable."

"My best guess is that Ozpin hopes leadership will force him to mature," Phyrra offered. She knew from the tournament about the boy in question.

"Jaune Arc, Phyrra Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren." Ozpin called next. The four students quickly made their way up to the platform. "The four of you retrieved the white rook, therefore you shall now be called Team Juniper. (JNPR). Lead by...Jaune Arc."

The two remaining groups laughed and clapped for the boy, who looked both startled and overwhelmed by the announcement. Phyrra gave him a friendly shove, nearly knocking him over. He had shown a good mind for strategy during their fight with the Deathstalker.

"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin said with a meaningful smile. He suspected, of course, that Jaune had faked his transcripts into the school – you didn't work as a Headmaster for half your life without noticing these sorts of things. However, he thought that Jaune had some potential, and this had been confirmed by his actions during that battle.

"Blake Belladonna," Adam gave her a small smirk, which for him was considerable encouragement. "Ruby Rose, Yang Xaio Long, and Weiss Schnee." The four girls hurried up to the stage. "You retrieved the white knight pieces, therefore, you shall now be known as team Ruby (RWBY). Lead by...Ruby Rose."

Emily nodded and smiled, remembering the bird decapitation. "She's got a knack for it," She told her friends as they clapped. Ruby looked surprised, Yang proud, and Weiss a little put out, though she did her best to hide it – a new event for her.

"And finally..." the four human/faunus mix made their way up to the stage; they were the only names not called yet. "Adam Taurus, Emily Potter, Gratcia Nightshade, and Selene Lumen. You retrieved the black knight, therefore, you shall be known as team Sage. (SAGE) Lead by Emily Potter."

Emily smiled shyly at her friends. Gratcia punched her shoulder, while Adam just clapped. "Right behind you, fearless leader," Selene added teasingly.

"Great! Wonderful. Then as my first order as team leader... _let's get some goddamned dinner_. I'm freakin starving."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Yeah, I can't see any other rationale for Ozpin, otherwise very wise, to make Cardin freakin Winchester a leader. I mean, power just makes people like him**_ **so much worse _. Again, I'm usually pretty terrible at fight scenes, but I'm actually halfway content with the battle against the Land Shark. There will be more subterranean Grimm like it later on in the story, so this is me getting warmed up._**

 ** _Read and Review please!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Wanda: Hi everyone! This chapter's a bit shorter than usual, but it's just covering the first few days. Next time, lots of interesting stuff is going to start building up, Velvet will make an appearance, and Cardin/his team will be their usual dickish selves. Of course, that won't go over well for anyone involved.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY.**_

 **Chapter 7: The Badge and the Burden Remix**

" _The sky Grimm is going to wake up."_

 _Emily was back in the void. This time, she could hear the voices clearly...and could see silhouettes a short distance away from her. One was taller than the other, and shaped oddly...her best guess was that the person was wearing some strange armour. The other person was pacing slightly, shoulders tense with worry._

" _My friend..." The herald sounded anguished._

" _She may survive this yet. She's incredible to have made it as long as she has so far..." The other woman said, trying to comfort her companion._

" _She won't last much longer...I came to you to protect my family..."_

" _I haven't forgotten my promise...help will come for your friend. You can give her hope now...it won't be too much longer."_

" _It's the least I can do... ...my daughter..."_

" _You must be proud of her..."_

" _Proud...and frightened...she's going to walk into it..."_

" _Hello?" Emily called out._

 _The voices paused for a moment. Then, one of the figures, still hidden by blinding white light, appeared in front of her. Emily winced; all she could see is the kaleidoscope eyes looking down at her, going from green to blue to red to violet._

" _Danger is coming. Rest and be ready for it."_

 _With that, the the white void grew brighter, and everything faded away._

Emily woke slowly, gazing up at the ceiling of her dorm room. It was a soft blue colour, with a ceiling fan and catching the light from the large open window. Her bed was quite comfortable, with a memory foam pillow and woven blankets. Distracted by her dream, Emily swung her legs over the side and stood up, walking over to the window. She had a beautiful view of the Emerald Forest and the star filled sky, the moon shattered in half. It was a haunting effect.

The redhead touched her fingers against the cool glass, taking in the sights. The herald was a mother...? Briefly Emily thought about her mother, Lily. A faint hope drifted across her heart for a moment before she squashed it. _Don't get your hopes up...you still don't know what these dreams mean...if they mean anything at all._

Emily let out a deep sigh and twisted a strand of her red hair between her fingers as she looked out across the woods. It seemed so much more peaceful now than it had when they were walking through it during Initiation.

 _The crazy thing is...Remnant, with its monster filled forests and awkward political tensions...I feel more at home here than I ever did in the world I lived in first...almost everyone here seems wiser...and while the Faunus still have deep struggles, there are now laws protecting them...that was more than Hogwarts or the Ministry had..._

Emily opened the window slightly, enjoying how the gentle, cool breeze felt against her face. _Even when I was living in a broken down shack, an eight year old against the elements...I was happier than I had ever been at the Dursleys or at Hogwarts. I had Adam and Blake...then Ginny and Mia...they will never turn on me...no one expects me to be their perfect martyr saviour...I'm just another Huntress, doing what I can to protect people._

 _There's still suffering here...but it's something you can face head on...you aren't pinned down by your own side, who'd rather risk the innocent to spare the guilty._

Emily scowled at the memory, before shaking her head. She had to stop dwelling on this...that all happened a long time ago...

A groan caught her attention. Emily turned around and looked back at the beds.

Adam's shoulders were incredibly tense...the half dressed bull faunus was twitching and muttering in his sleep...having lived with him for this long, Emily knew exactly what that meant...

Adam's parents and only friend had collectively died in a brutal cave in when he was ten years old. It was a Schnee mine... it was revealed by Anne Belladonna, three days before her disappearance, that the overseer had deliberately disengaged some of the mine's failsafes in order to make production move faster...however, the expensive lawyers the company provided got him off with little more than a mediocre fine...With no other family, Adam lived out on the street, where he regularly had to fend off murderous racists and avoid getting mauled by Grimm...

The then ten year old ended up suffering a mental breakdown, tracked down the overseer responsible, and stabbed him to death in his bed.

That was before he found Blake...if he hadn't chosen to take care of her, Emily was afraid to think of what else he might have done in that state of mind...or, god forbid, of the two of them had been picked up by the White Fang.

No, that _definitely_ didn't bear thinking about.

There was a reason Adam wore the Grimm mask...it kept any sense of weakness hidden below all that anger. If people would only see a monster when they looked at him...then that is what he would be to them. In all the years Emily had lived with him, he had only taken it off to go to sleep. Usually he was awake before them, so she hadn't seen his dark blue eyes until a year after their acquaintance.

Even many years later, Adam still experienced flashbacks and moments of psychosis...the girls did everything they could to keep him anchored...like right now.

Knowing that getting too close in these moments could result in getting grabbed or hit by accident; (it had happened once...it didn't help that Adam kept Wilt right next to his bed, where he could easily grab it), Emily quickly ran into the bathroom, grabbed a glass and filled it with cold water. Returning, walking as quietly as she could to avoid waking the others, she quickly splashed the older boy's face.

Adam jerked into a sitting position, letting out an angry snarl. His hand slid down to Wilt, causing Emily to take a few steps backwards. "Adam." She hissed. "Adam, it's okay. You're safe. You're with us."

She saw confusion, anger and even a little fear flickering through his eyes as he looked around the room without seeing any of it. Emily approached cautiously, stopping a few feet away from him. "Adam."

"..." Adam slowly shook his head, the tension letting out of his shoulders. "Emily... ...Cold water? Again? Really?"

"Well, you did grab my throat once..." Emily pointed out with a weak smile, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Adam sighed and swung his feet over the side, scowling and not meeting her eyes. "Hey. Were you thinking about them?"

"...Blake's not with us."

"She's perfectly safe, Adam...she's not even that far away. She'll be in class tomorrow."

"I know that..." His hands tensed up again. "...I hadn't really thought about anything. It came without warning."

"...I'm sorry, Adam."

"Stop saying that," Adam growled, agitated. "It's not your fault, and it pisses me off...you need to learn how to not make everything your fault."

"I just wish we could do more for you..."

"Unless you can go back in time fourteen years and stop that cave in, then no. It can't be helped."

"I don't like seeing you struggle like this. None of us do."

" _I know._ " Adam looked like he might start shouting for a second, before he seemed to collapse internally. "...I'm sorry, Emily."

"It's okay." The witch said quietly. "Do you think you can go to sleep again?"

Adam shook his head slightly. Emily smiled a little bit and said, "Then let's go outside and spar for a little. Does that sound good?"

"...Yeah." Fighting always distracted Adam from whatever was bothering him. He was a thrill/adrenaline seeker at heart.

 _ ****~Later~****_

"Monsters! D-eemons! Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names...I just call them _prey_." Professor Port liked to ramble in his lessons. He rambled a _lot_. However, his long winded speeches usually had a point, so everyone tried to pay attention.

Almost everyone.

"...Em, you're listening, right?" Selene hissed at her team leader, who was resting her head on her arms and staring blankly ahead of her.

"Mmmph?" Emily blinked a few times before raising her head slightly. "Meep? Y-Yeah, I'm listening. Definitely..."

"Somebody skipped on her morning coffee," Gratcia said teasingly. Emily swatted at her, shooting her a pissed off look.

"Right! Maybe because a certain somebody had already _stolen_ the bag set out for us! _Seriously, woman, how do you not get sick drinking all that at once? I swear, you and Professor Oobleck must be related somehow!_ "

"I like my coffee!" Gratcia said defensively. "We can get some more at lunch. Think you can make it until then?"

"One of these days..." Emily grumbled, before glancing over at Adam. As was typical with him, if he was tired he showed no sign of it, and would deny it if she asked him. She just made a mental note to get him a mug as well – he'd appreciate the gesture.

At the end of class, the group wandered down to the cafeteria. Emily bolted over to the coffee table, returning with three mugs. Adam accepted his with a small smile, while Selene laughed at Ginny's pouting expression.

Blake and Yang joined them after a few minutes. "Hey girls." Emily said in surprise. "Where are Ruby and Weiss?"

"They're having a...disagreement," Yang made a face at that. "They need to work it out without us, or it won't get solved."

"That doesn't sound good." Selene asked with a frown.

"Weiss thinks she should have been the team leader instead of Ruby." Blake supplied.

Adam snorted audibly at this. While a certain event three years after he had met Emily had mitigated his hatred of the Schnees (or, failing that, his hatred of one in particular...he almost-no, he wasn't going to think about that), he still didn't like any of them, and he had expected Weiss to be a spoiled brat with an entitlement complex from the get go. He hadn't been wild about Blake being on their team because of this, but since Blake had seemed to be fairly cheerful (by her standards) for the first few days, he hadn't commented on it.

"I'm sure Profesor Ozpin has his reasons," Selene said awkwardly.

"Ruby was the one who came up with the Slingshot Trick, wasn't she?" Emily asked. When the two girls nodded, she shrugged and said, "personally I think that's the sign of a good potential leader."

"Hopefully Weiss will come around. She seemed to be doing better during Initiation than when we met her," Gratcia said thoughtfully.

Yang didn't look super convinced at this. "Weiss is really opinionated; she doesn't like changing her mind."

"Well, maybe now she'll learn to grow the fuck up and realize she can't get everything she wants," Adam said coldly.

"Adam," Emily said with quiet reproach. Her adoptive brother didn't look particularly apologetic, but he tilted his head slightly and left to get more coffee.

"Your friend's a little scary," Yang said, looking a bit off put by the older faunus's sudden surge of anger.

"Sometimes he has trouble getting along with people." Emily remarked. It was just enough to explain and not upset her brother by telling too much. "Now, Yang – how about you tell us a bit about you? I'd like to make some new friends here."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Yeah, despite being better adjusted overall, Adam still has a number of issues. Anyway, I hope you all like this little interlude. (a quick note - I don't hate Weiss, I just didn't like her attitude throughout most of season 1)**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over**

 _ **Wanda: Eggh, that was harder to write than I thought. I kind of feel like Jaune's four episode arc was a bit longer than I needed to be, though I like what it did with his character. The guy in the comic relief role rarely gets much depth, and yet he does. That is part of what makes RWBY such a fun show - it's always playing with expectations.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY.**_

 **Chapter 8: Jaundice Remix**

Cardin Winchester liked to use his strength to intimidate people. He didn't have a lot else going for him; he wasn't particularly smart, he had a politically incorrect (and very petty) hatred of faunus, and the only way he ever made friends was with equally thuggish and violent young men. He liked to bully and intimidate others because it made him feel strong and offset the inadequacy he felt when compared to students like Pyrrha Nikos, the prodigy.

However, now there was someone else in the building that people were finding more intimidating than the team of angry birds. While Adam was quieter and more reclusive than Cardin, his posture, aura and general personality gave a vibe as someone who should not be trifled with.

Cardin had attempted to confront Adam before. He hated how the bull faunus always regarded him with thinly concealed contempt. But both times his partner Emily had been there. Whenever the boys had attempted to bait the older boy, Emily would squeeze his arm, mutter, "Adam. Let us handle it", and then lead him away.

Sky had a bit of a bone to pick with Emily; he had asked her out (what, she was hot and he wanted a chick on his arm) and she had turned him down flat.

This morning, Cardin was feeling pretty good. He had a shiny new target in Jaune Arc, who was too self conscious and weak to really push back against the other Hunter hopeful. His other target was Velvet, a shy bunny faunus who's team was currently in the medi ward due to an accident Fox had gotten into.

It was lunch time. Velvet had just collected her lunch when she spied the four boys heading her way. She gulped and started to step backwards when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Velvet turned around and let out a squeak of surprise when she found herself staring at Adam's chest. The other faunus was nearly two heads taller than her, which made her feel more shy than usual. "Hey. This place is filling up fast. You...can come sit with us."

Velvet glanced over her shoulder. Cardin had come to a halt when he spotted Adam. Understanding caused warmth to bloom in her chest, and she blushed slightly. "Thank you. I'd love that."

Cardin growled as his intended target walked off under protection before sitting down with team SAGE, RWBY and JNPR. Those teams had become quite inseparable, and even his ego wouldn't allow him to confront so many people at once. "Who does that freak think he is?" Cardin muttered.

"He has the leave eventually," Russel suggested with a little trepidation. Adam hadn't participated in any of the sparring sessions yet – Gratcia and Ruby had been stealing the show there – but he'd heard that this guy had won the previous Regional Tournament.

"...Right," Cardin said darkly.

 _ **% &%&%&%&%&%&%&%&**_

"Hey Velvet!" Yang said cheerfully as Velvet and Adam joined the table. "Nice to see you! Where are Coco and Fox?"

"Fox got hurt in a training accident, so he's in the medi ward. Coco's with him because she's worried, even if she won't admit it." Velvet explained with a nervous smile.

"I hope it's not serious." Blake said cautiously.

"Oh yeah. He just went because the injury is on the leg." Velvet said, brushing her hair away from her face. "They said he'll recover quickly if he doesn't put too much weight on it."

"That's great!" Ruby said cheerfully. She'd met Fox and Coco in the hallway two days ago. The older girl had complimented her cloak – _it looks great on you, kid. Goes with the scythe perfectly._ No one had really called Ruby pretty before (besides her mom and dad, who didn't really count – parents always thought you were pretty), so that memory had stuck with her.

Jaune muttered a distracted agreement, staring down at his food. Pyrrha gave her partner a look of concern. "Jaune, are you okay? You look exhausted."

"Muff? Yeah? Yeah, I'm fine." Jaune managed, wincing when he heard Cardin's rough laughter on the other side of the room.

Pyrrha didn't miss that. "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first day of school." She said with worry. "Why haven't you asked us for help?"

"What? Cardin? Nah, that's just roughhousing! It's nothing serious," Jaune downplayed, internally praying that he was coming across as tough and cool.

"He stuffed you into one of the Rocket lockers and fired you out of the building," Selene deadpanned. "That sounds kind of serious."

"Or when he pushed you down the stairs..." Ruby chipped in, visibly concerned.

"Or when he caused your shield to activate, getting it stuck in a door and causing you to twist your arm when you fell over." Ren contributed.

"Okay, so it's a little rough," Jaune interrupted, flushing. "But seriously guys, I'm handling it! There's nothing to worry about. Really."

Emily raised an eyebrow at him. She found herself thinking of Ron – very self conscious, desperately trying to make himself seen as a talented person in his own right. Gratcia had commented that Jaune reminded her of her older brother before, and she saw the parallels. It was a good thing he had Pyrrha, Nora and Ren for teammates.

"Whatever you say, tough guy." Ginny chuckled, before downing more coffee. Blake visibly rolled her eyes at this but kept her trademark brutal honesty to herself.

"You know if you need help you can just ask, right?" Pyrrha pushed, eyes wide with concern.

Nora jumped to her feet. "Ooooh! WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS!" She said with a grin.

Adam unexpectedly burst out laughing at that remark, earning surprised looks from Emily, Selene and Ginny, slightly unnerved looks from Ren and Blake, and a frightened look from Jaune. Adam almost never laughed. "I like the sound of that," He said with a smirk.

Nora cheered and punched the older boy's shoulder, which he took with stride (another big surprise). Finally, somebody agreed with her!

"Guys, really." Jaune said, abruptly standing up. "It's _fine._ I'm fine." He walked off, supposedly to get some more food. Emily paused, and then got up herself. Adam rolled his eyes affectionately, knowing what was on her mind.

"Good luck," Selene muttered.

 **% &%&%&%&%&%&%&%&**

"You're afraid they'll look down on you if you ask for help?"

Jaune yelped and spun around to see Emily standing behind him. The redhead had her arms crossed and she was studying him with a seemingly neutral expression. "W-What?! What do you mean?"

"About Cardin." Emily said quietly. "Jaune, I know you probably want to prove yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. But people like Winchester can't really be dealt with alone."

"W-What makes you so sure? I can handle it! I _am_ handling it! I know I look like a joke and it makes me sick because I always end up hanging from a tree while everyone fights the monsters but I will get better on my own!" Jaune ranted, waving his arms over his head, before flushing when he realized he had blurted out his reasoning.

Emily's expression shifted slightly – not pitying, but sympathetic all the same. She looked like someone who had dealt with things like this before. "I understand." She said sincerely. "I'm sure you can do it alone...the thing is, you don't _have_ to. You know?"

Jaune's resolve faltered slightly, and he stared down at his feet. "T-thank you for offering...that's very nice of you. But-"

"Hey!"

Emily bit back some rude words and turned around. Russel and Cardin were approaching the pair with huge, smug smirks on their faces. Jaune winced until Emily took a step backwards so she was standing next to him, as a sign of companionship.

"Hey there, cutie...what are you doing hanging around with a looser like Arc?" Cardin asked in a way that was probably supposed to come across as smooth, but instead seemed oily. Emily resisted the urge to shudder.

"I didn't realize there was criteria for who I could make friends with." Emily responded neutrally.

"You can do a lot better, looking like that." Cardin said, reaching out to touch her face creepily. Emily took a step backwards in response. "You should try hanging out with me." He grinned lecherously. "We'll show you a good time."

"I'm flattered," Emily said coolly. "But I think I'll pass."

"C'mon! You'd rather hang out with a bunch of freaks-?" Russel asked, clearly referencing Adam, Blake, Ginny and Velvet.

Emily froze up at the phrase 'freak'. Her mind darted back to a particularly violent beating from Vernon Dursley, back when she was a small child. _You're a freak!_ He bellowed, raising his hand over his head – she felt her blood, hot and wet on her face –

Russel wasn't even done his sentence before Emily lashed out with one arm. She punched him square in the face, sending him flying six feet, breaking his nose and leaving an indentation in the wall he had been slammed against.

 **% &%&%&%&%&%&%&&%**

"What happened again?" Ozpin repeated gently, looking between a guilty, nervous Emily and a worried Jaune. The three were standing outside the medi wing hallway.

"I'm so sorry Professor," Emily said quickly, "I-I lost my temper and-"

"I know what _happened_ ," Ozpin said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to know why it happened, from you." Emily let out a long breath and met the man's eyes shyly. "It's been my observation that you're a kind person, not prone to violent outbrusts."

"Yeah, that's right."

"It...it was something he said." Emily admitted reluctantly. "A word...freak." She shivered slightly. "I have a history with it."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed slightly at the implications. "I see." Gently he squeezed her shoulder before letting go and saying, "that's troubling."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"You don't have to apologize, Emily. The punishment will not be severe." Ozpin said with a comforting smile. "Now I'm sure your team is wondering where you are."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Yeah, Emily still has a trigger issue with the word 'freak'. That will be fun to mess with.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


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